Devotional Guide
For the week of April 25, 2004
THE DISCIPLINED LIFE
Where the truth is about myself
To Read: Numbers 25-27
To Know:
"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of
the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones."
(Ezekiel 37:1)
Mount Washington has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. My father
is the reason for the magnetic pull of this the highest point north of the
Alleghenies and east of the Mississippi. In our family, most vacations
before 1950 were spent in the White Mountains. In those days before divided
highways and motels, Route 16 was a cement roadway with seams that went
clickety-click all the way north. Not very far beyond Rochester my father
alerted me to watch the horizon for my first glimpse of the mountains. My
greatest joy was seeing Mount Washington.
Mount Washington doesn't look like Mount Washington from every angle. At
least the peak doesn't look like Mount Washington to me until I view from
certain vantage points. The 6288-foot mass looks very different from
Crawford Notch than it does from Pinkham Notch. Pinkham Notch is in the east
and from there we see the mighty summit and the scar on its side called the
Great Gulf. From the east also, Mount Washington displays her domination
over the other presidential peaks. For me to readily identify Mount
Washington I need to stand in the right place.
To Do:
The parables of Jesus are more than mere stories to illustrate the truths of
life. Parables reveal the one who tells them. Until we go to the right place
we will not see Christ clearly. We are invited to stand in the place of
those in the parables in order to recognize our true relationship to God in
Christ. For example, until one recognizes that, like the prodigal son, those
who live from the beneficence of God, although they are far from him, must
come to themselves in order to be right with the Lord.
To Ask:
Father, give me the courage to take my stand at that place where I can see
the truth about myself as you declare it to be.
04294$-04294
.
|
