With all the noise in the world, do you hear the voice of God? Your calendar tells you what to do, but do you remember who you are? Being comes before doing. This is a call to put first things first. Return to the Lord with this daily pattern of prayer and devotion. Set aside this time as a sanctuary. Find a space free of distraction and follow this pattern.
Invocation
Make the sign of the cross and say,
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation Prayer
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:3) O Lord, my poverty is the place where you meet me with grace. My spirit finds all I need in you. Amen.
Meditation
The message we hear from our culture is often: as long as we are productive, we are valuable. As soon as we are unable to produce, however, we lose our value. We die, so to speak.
Boss’ and employers say to us, “I totally support you…” (sigh of relief) “… as long as you produce.” It occurs to me that this is life; life is quid pro quo. All the time. Your worth is directly correlated to the quality of your output.
Some questions that may arise in our minds: Am I just a pawn in society? Am I loved apart from what I produce? Am I replaceable or not? Am I valuable apart from creating my own value?
But, for all the production and its costs, we see in this passage a Man making home among the impotent. Jesus addresses the ones contributing nearly nothing of value. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” This Man is God Himself. And that man ushers in a backwards Kingdom from the quid pro quo of the world. You are valuable to the King, rest.
Closing Prayer
Father, may I have the freedom to fail, even at the things I care about, knowing that mistakes aren’t the end of my sanctification but part of it. In Jesus’ name, Amen!