WATCHWORD:
For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:16
Meditation:
My One and Precious Life
Your one and precious life. Have you ever thought about that? You know God has given us this one opportunity to spend our portioned breaths in this, our lifetime, singular, never to be repeated, and he has equipped us to make the most of it. What have we done with this golden opportunity, this one and precious life?
In Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day, she raises questions that we have entertained during our lifetimes. Simple questions, like “Who made the world?” “Who made the swan and the black bear?” “Who made the grasshopper?” Questions about the creator, questions that are important to us, for we want answers, we want proofs, we want, we want, we want. Where does trust, belief, and our faith come in? At what point do we know, truly know, who made the swan and the black bear, and trust God?
At the end of our day, will we be asking, “Tell me what else should I have done?” Did I not surrender to the fact that everything dies in the end and then a void? Or have I trusted God and have confidence that there is an endless continuation that we rest upon, that we know, that we believe, that will bring us comfort and peace? Eternal life with God the Father.
Can we say without hesitation, my faith is based on nothing less than trust in God and Jesus’ resurrection? It’s in Jesus’ name we consider these things for we want to spend our one and precious life for him, and him alone. Amen.
Questions for Eternity:
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean–the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down–
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
Closing Prayer:
How do we do this, Lord? How do I spend this one and precious life for you, fully and completely? How do we follow you, as you have instructed us to do, how do we overcome thoughts of darkness? Help me Lord, guide me in all that I do, and provide me, Lord, with your vision, for my meager planning is inadequate to the magnificence of your gift. Be with me Lord, each step of the way for your child, I surrender my life to you. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen
