balance, saturday

Saturday, August 30

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

     During this day help me quiet all the thoughts that fill my head—where I must go, whom I must see, and what I must do.  In their place, give me a sense of your order, your peace, and your time.

     Help me to understand that you are in control, and I can trust you with my day.  Help me to realize that nothing on my to-do list is important if it is not what you want me to do.

     I give all my tasks to you and trust you to bring order to them.  In these moments, dear Jesus, come to me, be with me, and free me from the tyranny of “to do.” (Quiet Spaces by Patricia F. Wilson)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Philippians 3:7-14

Reading for Reflection:

 

     One thing.  It seems to be a recurring theme in Scripture.  In fact, we’ve seen it all week long and here it is again.  Paul says that all of the things he thought were so important in this life are actually just rubbish compared to the one thing, the high privilege of knowing Jesus.  And his choice of vocabulary underscores the point he is trying to make.  The word rubbish is definitely a tame version of what he really says.  In fact, Eugene Peterson in The Message might be far more accurate when he translates it dog dung.  The Greek word used here is skubalon, which means refuse or excrement, particularly of animals.  In other words, something really detestable.  Paul is saying that all things, even the things he has spent a good portion of his life pursuing, are just refuse compared to the one thing—knowing Jesus.   

 

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him.  Philippians 3:7-9 (The Message)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

          

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, be more than just an attachment to my life, be the main thing—the one thing.  Forgive me when I put you on the periphery rather than in the center where you belong.  In your name I pray.  Amen.