Ordinary Time

Pause

The stakes are high. The road is long. But your Savior walks with you, steadying your feet along the way.

Breathe in and remember God’s hope for you — that your journey may lead to God’s Kingdom come here, now, and forever.

Listen

I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you right now: I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life—so that you and your descendants will live— by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by clinging to him. That’s how you will survive and live long on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Think

Waking up is hard work. Between the moment your eyelids begin to flutter and your first step out the door, a myriad of decisions need to be made: Do I hit the snooze button… again? Do I take shower? Do I need to wash that shirt? Can I get away with not brushing my teeth this morning?

Each morning is a battle between your desire to sleep and facing the day ahead. The struggle is real.

In the split second between decisions, you hear that nagging voice, “It may be easier to chew gum now, but you’ll wish you brushed your teeth when they all fall out!”

Your choices matter. For the Israelites, God had presented the options quite clearly. Choose life or death, blessing or curse. You have a choice: what is good and lasting, or what is wrong and causes death. God requires us to look beyond the individual moment and make the choice that preserves the precious life God entrusted to you.

Emily Holladay

Pray

Everlasting God, I pray that you will give me eyes to see beyond this moment and wisdom to make choices that preserve and sustain this precious life you have given me. Amen.

Go

Go. Take the next step, confident that the One who set the stakes high walks the road with you. Do not lose sight of what is good.

“And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Micah 6:8 (NRSV)