Yesterday, I talked about how the words BO YIMMIM tell us that David’s life was filled with purpose and meaning.
This was despite all of his wicked sins.
Now, if this doesn’t give you hope, I don’t know what does.
But this raises the question of how?
How does one lead a life so that in hindsight it can be described as BO YIMMIM?
Here’s what’s coming to me.
In this life, living for the Lord will be tough at times.
You will be tempted to break His commands, whether in matters of diet, sex, or idolatry.
Now here’s the thing.
Whenever you are tempted, and if in response to that temptation, you do the right thing.
You decide not to watch that porn.
Or sleep with your neighbor’s wife.
Or buy that online course from a pirated site.
Or purchase that you-can-manifest-anything-you-want-in-life New Age Law of Attraction book.
Or eat that bacon cheeseburger.
Every single time you choose to obey rather than disobey God’s commandments…
You build up your faith muscle.
And not only do you build up your faith muscle.
But the Lord will, in his own good timing, reward you for your obedience.
In my experience, you won’t be rewarded instantly.
There won’t seem to be this instant correlation between your behavior and consequences.
But in the Lord’s perfect timing, you will be rewarded.
Of course, the opposite is true.
Every time you break God’s commands, the results won’t be immediately apparent.
In fact, sometimes it will seem like a little sin here and a little sin there isn’t negatively affecting your life at all.
But over time, the accumulated effect will be devastating.
The words “over time” are key to this discussion.
It’s what you do over time that decides your character.
It’s what you do day in and day out that seals your fate.
Ya feel me?
To drive home my point, I wanna share an interesting thought exercise I got from Tom Bradford’s awesome Torah class.
I’m going to reprint Yeshua’s Parable of the Talents.
But instead of the word “talent,” I’m going to substitute the word “years.”
Take a read below:
“For it will be like a man about to leave home for a while, who entrusted his possessions to his servants. To one he gave five years [equivalent to a hundred years’ wages]; to another, two years; and to another, one year — to each according to his ability. Then he left. The one who had received five years immediately went out, invested it, and earned another five. Similarly, the one given two earned another two. But the one given one year went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.
“After a long time, the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them. The one who had received five years came forward bringing the other five and said, ‘Sir, you gave me five years; here, I have made five more.’ His master said to him, ‘Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master’s happiness!’ Also the one who had received two came forward and said, ‘Sir, you gave me two years; here, I have made two more.’ His master said to him, ‘Excellent! you are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master’s happiness!’
“Now the one who had received one year came forward and said, ‘I knew you were a hard man. You harvest where you didn’t plant and gather where you didn’t sow seed. I was afraid, so I went and hid your year in the ground. Here! Take what belongs to you!’ ‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ said his master, ‘So you knew, did you, that I harvest where I haven’t planted? and that I gather where I didn’t sow seed? Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would at least have gotten back interest with my capital! Take the year from him and give it to the one who has ten. For everyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. As for this worthless servant, throw him out in the dark, where people will wail and grind their teeth!’”
Now I get that the analogy kind of falls apart in some places, but I think you get the point.
Time is the currency of life that the Lord gives to every human being.
Some will have more years than others.
How you spend your currency will determine not only whether you will be considered great or poor in heaven, but also what kind of earthly inheritance you will leave behind.
Did you spend your life for God?
Or did you spend it seeking after empty pleasures?
A great person takes everything that happens between them and God and lets it shape who they become.
They don’t forget those moments.
They think about them, learn from them, and let them change how they live.
In contrast, some people don’t stop to think about what happens in their lives.
Events come and go, but they don’t learn anything from them.
The experiences don’t change them, teach them, or help them grow.
And because they never reflect on them, they have nothing meaningful to pass on to others.
Life just moves past them, instead of shaping them.
David’s story tells us that living a life that can be described as BO YOMMIM doesn’t have to be sinless.
But it does have to be dedicated to the Lord.
Ya feel me here?
I leave you with these words from the Psalmist:
“So teach us to number our days
That we may gain
A heart of wisdom.”
— Psalm 90:12
Done.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Do not store up treasures on earth,
Where moth and rust destroy them,
And thieves break in and steal.
Store up treasures for yourselves in heaven.
For where your treasure is,
There your heart will also be.”
— Matthew 6:19–21
“Whoever is faithful in very little
Will also be faithful in much.
Whoever is dishonest in little
Will also be dishonest in much.”
— Luke 16:10
“Let us not grow tired of doing good.
At the right time we will reap
If we do not give up.”
— Galatians 6:9
“Look carefully how you live,
Not as unwise people,
But as wise people.
Make the best use of time,
Because the days are evil.”
— Ephesians 5:15–16
“Be steadfast and immovable,
Always abounding in the Lord’s work.
Know that your labor in the Lord
Is never in vain.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:58
Leave a Reply