[audio mp3="https://pointofgracechurch.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/delton-biblical-rivers.mp3"][/audio]
Day 1
When I first saw the cover of the “Why Give?” devotional, I was immediately drawn to the image of the water cascading through a series of moss-covered stones. I love moving water of all kinds – an ocean, a sea, a mighty river rushing past, a bubbling stream, a tinkling fountain….. There is something infinitely soothing to my soul when I am near water. As a young girl, I spent many happy hours sitting next to a little stream that bubbled through a wooded area near my home. Sometimes the sound was a gentle gurgle, other times a loud torrent after a rain but always a sound that lifted my heart and soothed my soul.
As a follower of Christ, I am called to allow his love and grace to well up within me. As his goodness flows into me – will I be living, moving water? Reflecting on the image of a bubbling stream, I wonder if I will be the follower who is so in love with her Savior, so full of his life-giving streams of water that I bubble over with joy. Will I dance and sparkle in the light of his presence? Will I allow God to use me to minister to others; sometimes as a torrent of love spilling over them; other times as a gentle gurgle enfolding them? Will others see me as full of life and joy or am I stagnant, murky, and dark with the cares and worries of this world?
I also love the lap of the waves against the shoreline – the rhythmic beat of the ocean’s heart. Will I allow myself to be the rhythmic ocean, faithfully coming ashore into the presence of Jesus? Returning each morning and evening to be replenished by his grace and mercy in preparation for the work he calls me to do? Or will my faith be challenged by moving currents that toss me to and fro in the deep, sucking me down into the depths of selfishness and self-absorption?
Abba Father, teach me the ways of your son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Empower me to be filled with streams of love and mercy, flowing from YOU through ME. Walk with me, Jesus, as I begin this forty day journey of learning how to give to those precious people that you will place in my path. Help me, Jesus, to always seek YOUR truth in Word and prayer.
Amen
Kelly