Our Lenten Devotion for Tuesday, March 22, comes to us from Steadfast Love which features reflections and prayers by Ed Arle and Gil Duchow with inspiration from the works of Henri J.M. Nouwen.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:30 NIV
“My All”
“O Lord Jesus, you who came to us to show the compassionate love of your Father, make your people know his love with their hearts, minds, and souls”
(from A Cry for Mercy by Henri J.M. Nouwen, page 62Henri)
I remember one day when the congregation was singing “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee …” We sang with a gusto that rocked the walls. But it was more than that. It was the beginning of a greater understanding on my part that God doesn’t just want to be part of my reality, my life, he wants to be my reality, my life. He wants all of me … heart, soul, mind and strength. And why not? Isn’t that what Jesus gave me? Someone once said that he rejoiced that Jesus was alive, but he also prayed that Jesus would come alive in him. I want that too.
Friends –
For me, having Jesus come alive in me means that I do my best to live in my time and place with the justice and compassion that Jesus brought to the world in which he lived. Certainly, I fall short of that lofty goal every day, but I know that God’s love through Christ calls me to keep striving for that goal with all that I am and all that I have.
--Pastor bea
Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me to hear the music of your faithfulness. As you gave your all for me, help me give my all for you. Amen.