Carry-on luggage: Psalm 121

I am starting a new series of sorts which I will call for now, for lack of something better, "Carry-on luggage." (At first I called it "Back to basics" but then realized someone else was already using that phrase. Oops. I'm open for suggestions though.) Why "carry-on luggage?" Because that's where we put our essentials when we're traveling. So much of blogging and any other Christian endeavor can become about the endeavor itself rather than the God it is supposedly for, at least for me, especially if the endeavor supplants what ought to root it, i.e., a relationship with God through prayer and meditation upon Scripture that is founded upon Christ. We must make sure that we "bring along," and rely on, the essentials of Christian faith when embarking upon any enterprise.

It is simple things that ground me: a Psalm, a great hymn, or other nugget that distills the gospel and draws me back to the Lord's bosom. Today I am reminded of the Source of my peace by Psalm 121. May it bring you peace also:


I will lift up my eyes to the mountains
From whence shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

NASB