“Certainly the faithful love of the LORD hasn’t ended; certainly God’s compassion isn’t through! They are renewed every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I think: The LORD is my portion! Therefore, I’ll wait …” (Lamentations 3:22-24 CEB)
“Every new morning is a new beginning of our life. Every day is a completed whole.” These are the words that begin the devotional thought for today in a book I’m reading based on the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I find myself reflecting during my devotional time on such thoughts and insights. Every new day has the potential to take us to that place where we can best serve God. Yesterday is past and “now” has begun. The sun rises faithfully again this morning and so too does my new day. I have an agenda in mind for today but I am excited that God just may change that agenda. What if this is the day God has placed before me the potential to be as Christ for a friend seeking faith, a neighbour needing nourishment, a senior in seclusion, a teen in trouble, a child in crisis. I am excited about the possibilities for service, maybe even for sacrifice, as this day unfolds. I wonder what goal may be achieved today before the sun sets.
Bonhoeffer went on to say: “God created day and night so that we might not wander boundlessly, but already in the morning may see the goal of the evening before us. As the old sun rises every day, so the eternal mercies of God are new every morning. To grasp the old faithfulness of God anew every morning, to be able—in the middle of life—to begin a new life with God daily, that is the gift that God gives with every new morning…”
Prayer: Come, O Christ, and fill us with quiet confidence; make us realize that your love will never disappear, and that to follow you means giving our lives. Amen. (Prayer of Brother Roger, Taize Community)
Thought for today:
“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” (Meister Eckhart)
Kenn Stright
(To access the entire “Morning Devotions” mini-series, click here.)