Daily Devotions

Early on in my ministry here at 1st Baptist I was given a little plaque that reads, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” That plaque is on my desk in my study right in front of me. I see it and read it every day I’m in my office.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Another translation of the same verse reads, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law.”
Roger Staubach, who led the Dallas Cowboys to the world Championship in 1971, admitted that is was difficult for him to be a quarterback who didn’t call his own signals. Coach Tom Landry told Staubach when to pass, when to run, and only in emergency situations could he change the play. Even though Staubach considered Coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride told him he should have been able to run his own defense.
Staubach later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey, there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.”
Every Christian needs to come to terms with the issue of obedience as well. True happiness and fulfillment comes in obeying God’s commands. Many have turned down the wrong corridor in search of happiness. They have chased after things like possessions, pleasures, and positions, only to find themselves at a dead end. Disillusioned by a world that promised happiness, they stand before a chasm of emptiness and trouble.
Have you been searching for happiness in all the wrong places? My friend, true happiness awaits those who obey Christ. My prayer is that that might be true of you.