Advent

December 23, 2019

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 63:7-9

I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord,
   the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
because of all that the Lord has done for us,
   and the great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them according to his mercy,
   according to the abundance of his steadfast love. –Isaiah 64:7

I am not much on new year’s resolutions, but I think the end of the year is a good time to take stalk of where I have been and where I want to go from here. For some reason I do not throw paper away in a timely manner. I really have tired to develop the habit of reading something one time, deciding if I need to keep it, filing it if it is a keeper and trashing it if not, but I just cannot seem to do that. An annual clearance of these papers is my final resort. I do not know how many scrap pieces of paper I find that has a telephone number on it with no name. Those are easy to throw away at the end of the year. Most likely it is a number I wrote down, used immediately, and thought I should put it in my contacts but obviously forgot about it.

The scripture above outlines an idea of recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord in our lives. I do not know how well I would remember them to list them. I recall on occasion noting that some event was a God thing, but like the missing name with the telephone number the part I might remember at the end of the year may not be meaningful at all. The examine process in spiritual direction is a daily practice of reviewing for one thing where a person has seen God at work in his or her everyday life. One might recall a small act of kindness or a major turning point. All are important and remembering them reminds us of who we follow and who walks with us every step of our way.

Prayer: Lord, help me set aside time each day to examine my life to identifying and acknowledge the reality of your presence in my life. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.