Opportunites and Surprises

My discipline of morning devotionals came to a screeching halt after only two days; Christmas break, travel, and other things got in the way. That is not an excuse as much as it is a confession of guilt, for my decision to make this time was to overcome such problems. Do I quit then, give it up as a lost cause? Of course not. When you have these moments of failure, which you will always have in any endeavor, the spirit must rise up and continue to fight against all the obstacles to success.

In that light, I made time this morning for my four rituals: The Bible, Bread For the Journey by Henri Nouwen, blogging my thoughts, and The Intellectual Devotional, which I haven't read yet. The English teacher in me tries to make connections between texts, and this morning was no different. The Scripture was from Romans, and Paul was off on some idea that I don't totally agree with. He, as far as I can figure out, was saying that the Law was the cause of his sin because it made him aware of sin. Then went on to say that inside, he exulted the Law, but his actions that he did not want to do but did were from sin. It got really circular in logic, but the point that I took from it was this -- we are bombarded by sin to do things that we know are not right and this fact makes us sinners and our own salvation is through faith in Christ.

Now, Nouwen's brief devotional passage was simply that every single day is full of surprises, good and bad, yet we will miss them if we are not open to the opportunities. I really liked this idea because it speaks to being an open person. Everyone knows the story of the man who receives a message from Jesus saying he would visit him the following day. So, the man readied the house and awoke with great anticipation of Jesus' visit. Early in the morning, a knock came at the door, but it wasn't Jesus. It was a child begging for food. The man quickly gathered some food for the child and hurried him off lest he should miss Jesus. The man waited longer and soon another knock came to the door, but it wasn't Jesus; it was a man who needed clothing. The man gathered some clothes, gave it to the beggar, and sent him off. Again, he awaited Jesus. Later in the afternoon another knock came at the door. "Surely, this must be Jesus," thought the man as rushed to the door. This time it was neighbor who needed help. The man, hoping he would not miss Jesus, rushed to his neighbor's house and helped the man in need. The rest of the day passed, and the man never saw Jesus. During his prayers that night, he asked Jesus why he said he would come and then did not. He heard his answer. "I did come, three times today." The man was puzzled. "But Lord," he responded, "I was home all day and only a hungry child, an unclothed man, and a needy neighbor came. I did not see you once." To this, Jesus responded, "Ah, my son, in those three I was there."

Well, this story, combined with Nouwen's paragraph, and with Paul's conundrum of sin comes this -- Every single day there will be opportunities to sin and opportunities to do good. It is waiting with an open mind to seize those chances that makes the day exciting.