There's a few verses in the bible that pretty much, everyone on earth will recognize.
And that's because it became part of modern culture, through memes, sayings or popular media. Obviously, John 3:16 comes to mind. You don't even need to be a Christian to recognize that one.
One of the chapters of the bible that I knew, years before even picking up a bible was Psalms 23.
I'll paste it here, in an image, because it's only a few verses long...
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want!!!
Those few words open us up to one of the most powerful Psalms ever written. Now our #bible911 graphic connects this Psalm to 'Lonely', or knowing that we are never alone. I like that a lot....
Verse 4 really captures that!
But I thought today, I would share a testimony of what happened the first time I read this Psalm prayerfully, and learned about the goodness of God!
It's story time with Jongo :)
A number of years ago, I was...Depressed! And looking back, I never really opened up to anyone of what I was going through. It was a battle, I was fighting almost daily.
On paper, everything looked great in my life.
I was doing very well with my online businesses, earning a substantial amount of money each year, I had a brand new home, lots of 'friends' and pretty much everything a man could want...
You will notice how I put 'friends' in bunny ears. That's because when you start making good money, you get surrounded by 'yes men'. Basically they hang around you because you are the one that seems to have it all together. And the extra cash!
The moment anything changed in my life, those 'friends' disappeared. Obviously there was more to it than that but deep down, I was looking for true friendship. To be honest, I was also looking for my wife which at that time, I had not yet met.
The weeks turned into months. And I just got sick of hanging around people that never had my best interest in mind. I was being used left, right and center. So instead of talking to God about it (remember, I have not yet even picked up a bible), I kept it all inside.
One day, I had enough. I decided to talk to my Mom about it.
She listened like any good mother would, and then hit me with a bombshell. I'm paraphrasing what she said but this was essentially it:
"Jon, stop what you are doing right now. Get the bible I sent you years ago, and go to the book of Psalms. When you find that, I want you to read Psalm 23 over and over again until you understand what God is telling you!"
I was in a real dark place...So yeah, I was 'lonely'. So I started reading, I needed something to change...
Finding the old bible my Mom sent me years ago, I opened it up, found the chapter and started reading...
"I shall not want." Hmm, I thought, seeing that my entire life revolves right now with material things, God is telling me to stop 'wanting' things. This made sense to me....
I kept reading.
"He makes me lie down in green pastures?" O.k. this was weird, but I kept reading...
"He restores my soul" Oh this was the first verse that just hit me like a truck. God can restore me? O.k., you have my attention God.
And then, the verse that pretty much broke me...
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
This was it. Everything in this verse started to make sense because here's how I made sense of it...
Stop wanting what the world offers. The still waters of God's pastures are sufficient. He will restore me. And even with the trials of life, He will comfort me because He is always near. And finally, He wants me to spend eternity with Him.
Yeah, I could get into this bible stuff I thought, and over a decade plus later, I still get chills when I think of that moment when Psalms 23 spoke to me.
Give God a chance, let Him speak to you today too!
