Do It Again

Tuesday in Holy Week

Opening

Let's begin with a moment of silence, centering our minds, bodies, and hearts upon the Lord our God.

Quote

“God loves us more than a father, mother, friend, or any else could love, and even more than we are able to love ourselves.” -St. John Chrysostom

Reflection

“God loves you and is here to save you” expresses Jesus’ whole earthly life. The problem is, God’s people are used to this message. They’ve heard it for hundreds of years. Even the best, the truest things, can become par for the course. Oh, yes, I know this one. We see the Sunday school answers coming way ahead.

Does the truth get stale? Or do we?

One of the paradoxes about the Word is that He is not only unimaginably ancient and unchanging but also eternally fresh, like a rushing mountain spring. G.K. Chesterton suggests we can see God’s tireless joy even in the cycles of nature. When God makes yet another daisy or another day, it’s as if He’s saying, “Do it again.” Maybe one of the greatest tragedies of the Fall that Jesus comes to deliver us from is not what we do but what we lack: sensitive hearts easy to delight, easy to break with sorrow and beauty, commitment and love—the fullness of joy.

The Lord says it again. Except, this time, “God loves you and is here to save you” comes in His own Nazarene accent, with his eyes looking into each of our own. He knows we’ll reject this offer, as we rejected the prophets who came before, and will kill it and bury it in the ground. To become sensitized to divine love is too painful. But we don’t know that what we reject is a seed God will plant. God will “do it again,” patiently, turning our rejection into a new harvest of love.

Prayer

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Reflective Practice

This week, as you read Scripture, don’t rush or feel pressure to read every passage. As soon as something sounds strange or fresh, or moves you, or puzzles you, stop there. Stay there for the rest of your reflection time. Ask the living Lord what He might be saying to you or inviting you to notice.

Closing

If you would like to dive deeper into the themes of this devotional, you are invited to continue by listening to today's Scripture passages, giving thanks to God for His word, and asking Him to write it upon our hearts.

Go in peace today and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.