contemplate

Sunday, May 6, 2012 (8:27 a.m.)

Blessed Father,

It’s Sunday. Someone’s birthday. And I have mixed feelings. Would You talk with me about them?

Too often I come to You, barreling through with what I want to say. Today I would very much like to listen. To You!

Wow! “Ask and ye shall receive” (Matthew 7:7). Here I sat thinking we’d talk about my mixed feelings, or even the importance of me listening to You. But no. “I do not know what I think I know!”

Contemplate. Mull over. Ponder. Ooh, look at this ~ meditate on! Yes. Contemplate. Your Word.

Father, how I thank You for this privilege. You change my whole demeanor. In the most perfect way possible, You take the meanness out of me. Thank You.

Two verses came up while I searched ‘contemplate’. Psalm 27:4. “I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with Him in His house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate His beauty; I’ll study at His feet.”

Mm, the comfort I find in the mere considering of this. So many times I work myself up into a pile of hurt feelings. I think things should (oh, how I try to avoid that word!) be different than they are. And then I come to You and find joy in Your very presence. Thank You!

The New International Versions of Your Word use ‘contemplate’ where others say, ‘reflect’, ‘display’, ‘show’, ‘behold’… The Living Bible says very simply, “But we Christians have no veil [like Moses did] over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Ah, yes, please Father God. Do exactly that. Continue separating the meanness from me as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Fill me with the ability to follow You closely all the days of my life. In this time and the next.

I love You so very much and I long to represent You well. Thank You for Your willingness to continue Your work in me. Happy Birthday Someone Special! Amen.

(360 words ~ 9:34 a.m.)