What is worthy

 Psalm 119:33-37

Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.[a]
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
    preserve my life according to your word.

Today’s reading struck a chord with me. Waking up in a hotel room in Paris with a free day ahead, I spent the time chatting with you, Googling for things to do and places to see. I feel a sense of lethargy, maybe because it’s been a hectic week since I came back from Scotland (with quite a few meetings) and I’m tired. I did a run (plus pull ups and push ups) the day before taking the Eurostar and so it’s a nice kind of physical fatigue in a way.

Last night was a pretty long event, a cruise down the Seinne but it also takes something out of me because I’m not naturally very sociable with strangers but I can make the effort for work. Which sort of sums it up. It’s an effort. Of course at times you meet people who are genuinely a pleasure to talk to and then it’s less tiring. Hopefully they feel the same about me haha.

One thing I’ve learned that almost always works is to be curious. Be curious, not judgemental. That was also a theme from a great episode in Ted Lasso. Love that show because it focuses on the best of humanity.

When I speak with contacts, I try to find out what interests they have, why they like it and so on. People genuinely open up when they feel you are interested in what they think and do.

Anyways, I keep postponing going out from my hotel room and even dozed off and just when I get ready to go out, I realise I have not done my daily reading. And the above verses resonated with me.

Of course you still need to figure out what is selfish gain, what are worthless things. God gave us blessings to enjoy our lives in many ways. We must not pursue them to the point of distraction, where we are led astray. In all things, seek the Lord’s wisdom to help us find the real purpose behind it.

The main thing though, is that even as we partake in the activity and seeking insight and wisdom, we always remember to be a shining light, a holy testimony and that’s where the other part of today’s reading is important. Do not pursue selfish gain because we have been blessed many times over even though we did not pursue such gains, sometimes not even aware that we have been so blessed, often even when we did not deserve it.