Ordinary Time

Pause

Life gets noisy. Sit for a moment in the eye of your storm. Close your eyes. Feel and hear yourself breathe.

Take absolute confidence in one thing — God’s got this.

This moment, this day, this life — God’s got this.

Listen

After these things, the Lord commissioned seventy-two others and sent them on ahead in pairs to every city and place he was about to go. He said to them, “The harvest is bigger than you can imagine, but there are few workers. Therefore, plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers for his harvest. Go! Be warned, though, that I’m sending you out as lambs among wolves. Carry no wallet, no bag, and no sandals. Don’t even greet anyone along the way. Whenever you enter a house, first say, ‘May peace be on this house.’ If anyone there shares God’s peace, then your peace will rest on that person. If not, your blessing will return to you.

Luke 10:1-6

Think

When I get ready for a trip, I try to pack lightly. My wife, on the other hand, packs for all possibilities. We recently took a trip to a wedding. After I carried my backpack to the car, I came back to the house to find my wife’s huge suitcase. Her response was, “You have to be ready for anything that comes your way.”

In today’s verse, Jesus tells his followers to pack lightly as they depart to do his work. Good advice? I think so. We often burden ourselves with the “extras” of life in a way that keeps us from sharing the basics of Christ.

Each morning, I start my devotional time by listening to music. While I’ve built up several songs to choose from, I find myself drawn to “Flawless” by Mercy Me. That song shares the basics: “No matter the bumps, no matter the bruises, no matter the scars, still the truth is … the cross has made you flawless.” God’s grace through the cross is enough — Amen!

Bill Ogletree

Pray

Loving God, help me to know that your message and your grace is enough in my life. In this day, let these truths guide my actions. Amen.

Go

Mother Teresa once wrote that we can let God’s grace work in our souls by accepting whatever God gives us and giving whatever God takes from us. She says: “True holiness consists of doing God’s work with a smile.”