“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14 NIV
I have heard pastors recite this verse before they begin preaching at different times in my life. I find this comforting, not just the verse but also the idea that the shepherd of the congregation that I am sitting in is concerned about what he or she is going to say. Most of the pastors I have had in my life as the shepherd of the churches I attended and currently attend, were and are God-fearing, Spirit-filled servants. It is important to them that they show God’s love and spread His message to everyone so everyone is able to make the choice of whether to accept God’s merciful gift or not. I believe this should be important to any person who stands behind a pulpit and proclaims God’s word.
I have had the privilege of being a guest speaker at my church for over 7 years now and each time I am filled with nerves. Originally those nerves were about not saying something wrong because truthfully I didn’t want to look stupid. I have grown a lot over the years and now those nerves are about not saying something wrong because I don’t want to misrepresent God or lead anyone astray from where God wants them to be. I also don’t want to say anything that God doesn’t want to be said.
As important as it is for pastors, anyone really, speaking to a body of people to make sure they have their hearts and minds in the right place, focused on God, I believe it is equally important as we represent God in our daily lives that we also have our hearts and minds focused on Him. We don’t know what someone might need to hear as we interact with them but God does. If we are willing to open our minds and hearts up to be led to interact with others in the manner in which God knows they need, we will be amazed at how the love of God can flow through each one of us.
As we go about our day today, I pray that we each have the attitude in our minds and hearts of wanting what we think and say to be pleasing to God, not only to help others but to also keep us in line with God’s will.
I hope you have a wonderful day today.