Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, my whole life long.”

I love the message of this verse, I have known it for years and clung to it during challenges times in my life.  When I picture goodness and mercy I see myself walking on a sunny path that is surrounded by beautiful wildflowers and soft puffy white clouds in azure skies.  That is what mercy looks like in my mind.  As I turned this verse over in my meditations this morning a new view came to mind.  God goodness and mercy are always with me but if they follow me they are also behind me.  What do I leave in the wake of my journey?  As I move forward, striving to follow as a disciple of God do I leave goodness and mercy for others or do I leave brokenness and selfishness in my path?  The more I seek the Lord and His ways I trust and believe I will dwell with him for eternity, for my whole life.  Now I also am aware that I need to strive to bring goodness and mercy for others to follow as my legacy to the love I have for my Lord.  Goodness and mercy might follow me because I leave some as a trail for others to follow.  I can only hope for this.

Lord,

As I receive your gifts of goodness and mercy, help me open my heart to give those gifts to others as well.  Protect me from being a person of destruction and damage and guide me to be a vessel of mercy, bringing a piece of your kingdom to others each day.  Amen.