Thursday February 4, 2021

In the busyness of our everyday lives, we often fail to prepare our hearts and minds for reading God’s word and experience God in this time. Take a moment to allow this prayer to lead you into your time with God today.

As I enter into this time of prayer and reflection, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-center my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Holy and loving God, in this new season I invite you to shape my soul with your words and inspire my life with your works. Teach me to walk in the way of peace and grace. AMEN.

1 Timothy 1:15-17

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst sinner, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Paul, who writes these words from prison, might have been the best Christian who ever lived. That’s if we can qualify any Christian as best or better. If he qualified his life as the worst of sinners, and his living as an extension of the mercy and patience of God, then how much must we?

One of the fundamental truths of Christianity is that we stand in, walk with, and have an eternal relationship with God through the work of Jesus Christ, the goodness and rightness of Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the mercy and patience of God; not in our own ability or goodness. We love because God loves us, a love expressed and proven in the cross.

It God’s love for us that saves us.
It’s our love for God that defines how we live.

We love God because he first loved us. From this deep and abiding love that grows day by day, grows as we learn more and more how much God loves us, we reflect to the world around us the character and nature of God. Paul understands this love clearly in the depth of his own sin that God forgave, in his own calling that God gave, in his own life that revealed to the world around him the heart of the God he loves.

It’s our job. When we understand the depths of our own brokenness, need, and even sin. When we ask for, accept, and experience the loving mercy of God, our job becomes reflecting that into our relationships, our church, community, and our world. It’s what love demands.

Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way.

Amen.

*Our opening and closing prayers are adapted from Lectio 365, a mobile application developed by the 24-7 Prayer Network. To find out more about this resource, visit this link..