Rajahmundry sunrise- May 10th
Reflections from a Lectio reading of Psalm 118 with the students this morning for our devotion:
What if we read
Scripture
not as a thing
to check off
our daily list
of things to do
but as a way to
spend time
with Someone who
loves us
very much?
We can read and
listen
not just to
know about God
but to know Him.
It can become
an encounter
that changes us
that expands
our hearts
that reorients
our perspective
that increases
our love…
Such an encounter
can remind us
of the wonder
of God.
Such an
encounter
can point to
the truths
that God wants
to be with us,
that His mercy and
love endure forever,
that He hears
us and answers us when we call,
that we have
nothing to fear,
that this
is the day the Lord has made
and that we can
rejoice
and be glad in
it.
When
I wake up in the morning- regardless of the temperature, whether the sun is
shining or the rain is pouring- I go outside. I speak aloud to the predawn
darkness or the tail end of the moon just kissing the edge of the horizon or
the 9 a.m. bright sun of a sleep-in Saturday morning. I say, “This is the day
the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I say it out loud because
I’m groggy. I say it out loud because I’m speaking it and hearing it. And I don’t just say it once.
As
the cobwebs and sleepy confusion start lifting from my brain, I keep saying
that phrase, accenting different syllables, placing varying degrees of
importance on different words. “This is the day that the Lord has
made.” This- the one I’m in right
now. Not yesterday. As much as I want to reach back and relive something or
reminisce or bring back somebody who’s gone or feel what I once felt- that’s
all in the past. I can’t reach it, I can’t touch it, I can’t return even if I
tried. The door is closed. This day-
the one I’m standing in- is the day the Lord has made. This is it. How I live this day is what matters.
“This
is the day that the Lord has made.”
If God made this day, if He intended me to wake up this day, then there’s
purpose in it. It wasn’t made because he was bored and had nothing better to
do. He created it because that’s his nature- he is creative. And he creates for
his pleasure. And here I am right in the middle of a creation that was provided
for his pleasure. Where do I fit? How am I a part of it? These questions start
turning in my head.
“I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I’ve
got several choices ahead of me. I can worry. I can fear. I can hesitate. I can
plan. I can be regretful. But these first words out of my mouth- I will rejoice- remind me that this,
too, is an option. I have the option to choose rejoicing and to be glad.
As I speak , I feel my senses waking up. I hear the chatter of the birds. I smell the air. I feel the wetness from the dew on my feet. This is my early morning meditation.. In whatever mental state I might happen to be, I can greet the day and engage my spirit for the hours ahead. -Amy Grant
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