pramsay posted on June 26, 2007 05:37 612 views
Post It Notes and Paper Scraps!
Do you have a supply of those little yellow sticky pads for posting notes in your Bible or on your fridge or the dash of your car? What do you use the yellow stickies for? What kind of notes do you write to yourself?
I was wondering if Psalm 117 started of as a yellow sticky note. It’s everyone’s favorite chapter to memorize because it’s the shortest! Is it possible that centuries ago some happy child of God was thrilled with the Lord one morning and quickly grabbed a pad of yellow Post-It notes to write down his thoughts? Or maybe he peeled off a piece of birch bark and scribbled out 16 or 17 Hebrew words that captured the thrill he was experiencing in his soul? Did he then stick it in the pocket of the garment he was wearing?
O praise the LORD,
all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
For his merciful kindness is great toward us:
and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever
Praise ye the LORD.
(Psalm 117:1-2)
Whoever the happy child of God was, they were overwhelmed with joy. They longed for a day when every nation on the face of the earth would praise the Lord. This anonymous believer obviously had experienced the merciful kindness of the Lord in great quantities and found the truth of the Lord to be a permanent anchor in the storms of life. The desire of this believer’s heart was that people in every nation would come to appreciate the same merciful kindness of the Lord and that everyone everywhere would praise the Lord.
Given the hostility in the world today towards our Lord Jesus Christ, it’s hard to imagine a day when believers will not be in the minority – they will in fact dominate the earth. After the rapture and at the end of the seven years of tribulation Jesus will return to this world in dazzling splendor and majestic power. He will reign as the World’s Sovereign Ruler for one thousand years right here on this Planet! All nations in that day will praise and worship the Lord. It will be the fulfillment of the words of that anonymous saint who jotted down Psalm 117 (as we know it today.)
God was behind the writing of those 16 Hebrew words and today they are in our Bible. Maybe you’re one of those anonymous believers – living for the Lord in obscurity. No one seems to notice you and you feel small and insignificant. But don’t let that get you down!
Do you know what papers are really important in your life? It’s not the Financial Investment Certificates or Academic Achievement Diplomas. The real important papers are the little spiritual nuggets on your post-it notes that you stick inside your Bible or post on your fridge or desk. The little thought about Christ that came into your mind last Tuesday. The phrase in that verse you enjoyed on Monday. The dozen words that summarized the feelings of your heart as you spent time alone with the Lord earlier today. Perhaps you just underlined a special verse and made a small notation in the margin of your Bible or saved it as a file on your computer.
Never underestimate the value of those little notes to yourself. Others may not appreciate them but down the road you’ll look back on those scattered notes and little personal jottings as precious memories. During the storms of life or times when your heart is hard or cold, you will come across something you jotted down earlier and your heart will be softened and your eyes will melt to tears. Those notes are precious to the Lord.
Don’t just have the thought in your heart or head – always jot it down somewhere! When have you last jotted down a little meditation from the Bible?