Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.  Great peace have those who love your laws, and nothing can make them stumble.  I wait for your salvation, Lord, and I follow your commands. Psalm 119: 164-166

I have a confession to share. When I first read through these verses, I thought to myself, “Seven times a day? Ain’t nobody got time for that!”.  While contemplating my crippling lack of time, I also heard the awfully familiar dings, beeps, and tones alerting me that I had not checked some electronic device in literally minutes. Did you know that the average person checks his or her phone over 150 times a day? 

It is easy to lose track of how many times I open my email, eager to see a new message. Or check a news website, looking for the latest story.   I spend plenty of time poking around on social sites, wondering what other people are looking at.  And of course, these places are always eager to send me notifications, reminders and alerts when they determine I am no longer engaged.  Am I really engaged with these places, or am I just another metric in a database never quite finding what I am looking for?  

Contrast this with what we read in Psalm 119.  The author is praising God for His righteous laws, which brings “great peace” to those who love them.   This is not a casual observation or an afterthought.  He is connecting the two directly.  Scripture is not something passive for him. Scripture is the word of God, and it is actively working in his life to bring God’s peace.  There is something amazing that has been unlocked through an uncompromising commitment to God’s laws. 

Throughout Psalm 119, the author constantly refers to the joy he receives by following God’s law.  The key here is action.  He speaks about the actions he takes. He follows and obeys. He lives and loves.  He finds peace while he waits for salvation. The scripture is not just a book that he opens and closes.  The scriptures inspire actions that fill his life with the love and happiness God wants for all of us.  When we make time to not just read the Scripture, but work to turn the God’s word into action in our daily lives, we too can experience the “great peace” of God.

What non-essential app or website is always demanding your attention? This week can you replace one of those “links” in your life with something that connects you to the Bible?  Can you replace those moments where you reach for a personal device with a moment to praise God and his righteous laws?  Yes, you do have time for that!