READ

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life." Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

REFLECT

When people hear God loves them, they may assume this means He is content with the way they are. However, the opposite is true. When the Bible says that God loves man, it means that we are the objects of His love. It is not the benevolent love of a grandfather wishing his child to be happy, but the consuming fire Himself. It passes all reason that we should have such value in the Creator’s eyes. God created all things, for His pleasure. We were made so that we could become objects of God’s love, and in His love, He could be ‘well pleased.' To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God: because He is holy and is repelled by our fallen nature, and because He already loves us, He must labor to make us lovable. God loves us not because we are lovable, but because He is love. Therefore, He can only do what is best for us, which is to be transformed into a being of holy love like Himself.

RESPOND

Even if we don’t have time for a whole chapter of Bible reading in the morning, we can listen to it or a Psalm in the car on our commute, or get a short book of daily devotionals to read. There are multiple ways to be in the Word daily so that we can to set the tone for the day and armor up. Come up with a plan so that you can have intentional time with the Lord each day.

*Adapted from C.S. Lewis, The Problem with Pain