Offering This Day (September 5, 2012)

…Opening To…

Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your own weakness. (Mother Theresa)

…Listening In…

My very being longs, even yearns, for the LORD ’s courtyards. My heart and my body will rejoice out loud to the living God! Better is a single day in your courtyards than a thousand days anywhere else! (Psalm 84: 2, 10a; context)

…Filling Up…

Remember what I said yesterday: the more specific we are in what we offer to God, the harder it is to give. We started with the notion of giving our entire selves to God, which sounds awesome and momentous and life changing – and it is. But at the same time, it’s also rather vague. I can say, “I give myself to you, Lord,” and I can mean it. But how does the giving change my life?

As it so happens, our lives work out to be a series of days: the single, still frames of animation that make up a motion picture. Looking back, I find it hard to remember individual days, seeing instead the movie of my memory. But those days must have happened, because, after all, this one is happening now.

Since it’s hard to remember individual days, we can fall into the trap of thinking they don’t matter or into the other trap of looking past them to the amorphous future. But God gives us each day as a gift in and of itself. We acknowledge and thank God for the gift by giving the day back to God. When we do that, everything changes. The hours of the day, the activities we choose to do, the words we speak to people are no longer ours. They’re God’s because we gave them back freely. Actually, they are God’s all along, but when we give them back we participate in that reality.

When we enter into this reality, our attitude changes. No longer is it “I’m going to do such and such” or “My time.” Rather, “We’re going to do such and such together.” It’s “Our time,” God’s and mine. What could be more comforting than knowing that we’re not facing this day alone? What could be more challenging than knowing that God yearns for us to act – not next week, not when we’re ready, but today – in ways that bring God’s kingdom closer to earth?

…Praying For…

Dear God, you are my companion even when I do not return that companionship. Help me to welcome you into each of the days that you have given me and show me the paths that we will walk together. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.