Pause

We are limited, every one of us. There is only so much we can know, so much we can do.

God is not like us. Limitless in time, space, and imagination, God is mighty in ways we cannot fully describe; we can only trust in God's unlimited power.

Power, in God's case, is expressed in unlimited love. Rest now in the all-encompassing love of the Almighty.

Listen

I will tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

You shall break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Psalm 2:7-9

Think

Where does your identity lie? In today’s psalm, the writer makes a clear statement about the identity of the most powerful person in his culture, the king. He names God as the king’s parent, the one who gives him life and being. Everything that the king is and does comes from God. The king’s core identity is wholly wrapped up in God.

Jesus was fond of making similar declarations about his own identity: “The Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise” (John 5:19); “I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49). For both the king and for Jesus, being children of God meant seeing their identities as deeply linked to who God is. That connection shapes every word and action, changing the way a person moves through the world.

Abby Thornton Hailey

Pray

God, so many things go into making me who I am: my family, my DNA, my past, my culture, my personality. At the root of it all, however, I am your child. Let me live in a way that reflects who you are, shining forth from my core. Amen.

Go

Strong is the light that comes from our Creator,
Maker of heaven and earth.

Long is the way that leads from now to forever,
Yet we are not left alone.

Wherever you go and however you travel,
The strong arm of God
Is taking you home.