Tuesday

Psalm 20
Judges 9:7-15
1 John 2:18-28
Eugene Peterson’s modern paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, lifts up the tender and passionate urgency of John to the churches: "And now children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives."
This is life worth living, not the escapism that is so increasingly problematic in our postmodern society. Too often we forget who and whose we are (redeemed children of the Divine in whose image we are made), or settle for love that is too small, why we are here and where we are going. Not the boredom that seeks relief in substance abuse, mindless entertainment, and crass materialism. But the adventure, that comes from direct encounter with the living Christ and the world and people God created in love. A world both beautiful and broken, yet never abandoned so that we see the love of our Creator in the holy cross, the vertical plank of which reaches beyond our imagination to the heavens and down to the very depths of Hell, living and otherwise.
You are abiding in the Everlasting Arms. You are you tucked in and held against the heartbeat of God. “Peace, peace, be still.”