Today’s Readings: Psalm 2; Ezra 7:27-28 & 8:21-36; Matthew 17:1-9; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18; Psalm 99
Today's Featured Passage: Ezra 7:27-28 & 8:21-36. The pace of my life is often lived at break-neck speed, so I rarely the luxury of preparing well in advance. The upside of this approach is that over the years, I’ve learned that I cannot get stressed about the future. I have to live in the moment and be fully present where I’m at. The downside is that I often cheat myself out of the opportunities to fully prepare myself for upcoming events. This is especially true when it comes to taking trips. Often, I give an upcoming trip zero thought until the night before. I mean that. I usually have no clue what airline I’m flying or when my flight leaves or arrives until this time. This drives the people I’m traveling with - or traveling to see - nuts since they always want to know those tidbits of information in advance. What are they thinking?! J I often don’t even bring out my suitcase until an hour or so before I leave. Needless to say, my approach toward traveling is much different than most. That is especially true of the travelers referred to in this morning’s passage from Ezra. In that passage, we heard about Ezra’s impending return to Jerusalem and his preparations for that trip. We hear about things like his fasting, his praying, and his packing. Ezra took such care with his preparations because he knew how important the journey back to Jerusalem was and what would happen once he got there. Today, we sit two days out from the beginning of Lent – another important journey that will take us to a transformative place: Easter. This means we have at least two more days to get ready for this journey. How are you using this time? Are you following Ezra’s example and carefully thinking through how you will get ready for this Lenten journey; or are you taking my approach and waiting until the very last moment to jump on board the Easter Express? Til next time…
Today's Featured Passage: Ezra 7:27-28 & 8:21-36. The pace of my life is often lived at break-neck speed, so I rarely the luxury of preparing well in advance. The upside of this approach is that over the years, I’ve learned that I cannot get stressed about the future. I have to live in the moment and be fully present where I’m at. The downside is that I often cheat myself out of the opportunities to fully prepare myself for upcoming events. This is especially true when it comes to taking trips. Often, I give an upcoming trip zero thought until the night before. I mean that. I usually have no clue what airline I’m flying or when my flight leaves or arrives until this time. This drives the people I’m traveling with - or traveling to see - nuts since they always want to know those tidbits of information in advance. What are they thinking?! J I often don’t even bring out my suitcase until an hour or so before I leave. Needless to say, my approach toward traveling is much different than most. That is especially true of the travelers referred to in this morning’s passage from Ezra. In that passage, we heard about Ezra’s impending return to Jerusalem and his preparations for that trip. We hear about things like his fasting, his praying, and his packing. Ezra took such care with his preparations because he knew how important the journey back to Jerusalem was and what would happen once he got there. Today, we sit two days out from the beginning of Lent – another important journey that will take us to a transformative place: Easter. This means we have at least two more days to get ready for this journey. How are you using this time? Are you following Ezra’s example and carefully thinking through how you will get ready for this Lenten journey; or are you taking my approach and waiting until the very last moment to jump on board the Easter Express? Til next time…
No comments:
Post a Comment