A Meditation

Each year my church puts together a booklet of meditations written by members for the Lent season.  I am lucky enough to get to write one for this year's booklet again, and have been working on it for the past few days.  This little booklet is such a blessing to me every year - I love getting a glimpse of how my fellow church members are reading and applying scripture to their lives, and the things that are important to them at this given moment.  Below, is my contribution for the 2015 Lenten booklet.

Scripture:  “¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

Meditation:

There are days I find it easy and thrilling to do things that honor God.  These days, the opportunities are usually glaringly obvious because they’re not part of my normal routine.  For example…the day I met Josh, who was behind me in the grocery store line.  He had a small pile of groceries, and a young girl with him.  There was a whisper to my heart….”buy this man’s groceries.”  I obeyed….Josh was incredulous…and then truly joyful!  I gave them a ride home – I happened to be at the store alone, and had an available carseat, so Josh didn’t have to make the trek home, trying to wrangle a two-year-old while carrying the groceries.  The best part is, I hadn’t planned to be in this Dillon’s, as I’d already been to one grocery store and purchased the bulk of my groceries.  But on the drive home, I realized I’d forgotten an important item, and had to make a further stop.  I call that Providence.  And I call that thrilling and fun, and an example of an easy time to do something in the name of the Lord Jesus while giving thanks to God!

It’s in “the routine” that I run into problems with fulfilling this scripture.  I’m not typically giving much thanks in the moment that I’m picking up dirty socks and toys for the eleventh time.  The days that I face the same work grind.  These are not bad days…but the thrill of dirty socks does not compare to the thrill of buying groceries for someone in need.  But on days like these, spent with the people that see me most often, and definitely at my worst…..I want to be mindful of this scripture always, and seek ways to follow it.  I pray that God will show me the ways to turn even the smallest, mundane and annoying tasks into ways to inject grace, love and joy into the daily lives of those whose paths I cross. 

Prayer:  God, help us all to etch this scripture on our hearts and in our minds.  Guide and direct us so that we may find glaringly obvious ways to honor you in all we do…….even in the tasks that involve dirty socks.  Amen!