17 August 2013 - mischaracterized

17 August 2013 - mischaracterized

“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them;
for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Yes, LORD, teach us to be children.  Help us to lay aside all the duality in our souls in order to approach you with simple trust.  We think that to mature is to learn to provide for ourselves.  But that is an illusion.  There is nothing we have that is not from you.  You are the source of every good thing.

LORD, as we work so hard we tend to think ourselves self-sufficient.  We tend to think that our control is what really separates us from catastrophic system failure.  This is what happens when you are not are focus of our lives and our strivings.  Yet even at such times the good character traits we gain come from your storehouse of grace.

Teach us to recognize that you are the true aim of all our pursuits.

I say to the LORD, “My Lord are you.”
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
you it is who hold fast my lot.

Teach us to recognize that it is only through you that we find meaningful direction.

I bless the LORD who counsels me;
even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.

Teach us to recognize that only in you do we find true life.

You will show me the path to life,
fullness of joys in your presence,
the delights at your right hand forever.

We have served many idols in the past.  Every time we try to achieve something without reference to God we are making a God out of ourselves and our own abilities. When we don't recognize the source of our strength the only option is either to take credit for it ourselves or to find it in something that is not God.

There let us listen to the call of Joshua to the people of Israel:

decide today whom you will serve,
the gods your fathers served beyond the River
or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling.

Let us be childishly single-minded for you LORD, knowing that you are our inheritance.  Teach us to come to you that you may lay your hands on us as you do all children who come to you.  Knowing your touch we finally experience the peace and joy that are in you alone.