Loving God, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Psalm 104: 24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. 25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great. 26 There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it. 27 These all look to you to give them their food in due season; 28 when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. 29 When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. 30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground. 31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— 32 who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. 33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. 35 Bless the Lord, O my soul. Praise the Lord! (NRSV)
Since Tuesday, Nellie and I have been by "the sea." We never take it for granted that we live in a beautiful city by a beautiful sea (Okay, technically, it's a bay, but it's connected!). The crying of the sea gulls never grows old. The lapping of the waves is still music to us. All serves, day after day, to remind us of God's mighty creative power. In this passage, the Psalmist gives God praise and credit for all things and the passage that speaks to my heart, especially as we're right in the midst of our annual conference of ministers and laypeople gathered together to take care of the business of God, is that when God so desires, all things are created, and even the face of the earth can be renewed. All of it for the glory of God. Our church, we, I, stand in need of being made new for the work of God. We are not yet what God has created us to be, yet some give up or grow complacent. Our is to strive and ask and believing, receive what all God offers to us.
This Sunday, no, this day, can be a new day of Pentecost, where God's mighty Holy Spirit can make us all to be what God wants.
PRAYER: Come, Holy Spirit, move among us, move in me. Make me new. Make me strong. Give me a new vision and purpose for that which You desire. I pray this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
