Being Christ-like includes all the annoyance that comes with people. “Garbage in” often happens when people are around, stuff we don’t like gets into our souls, like office intrigue, water cooler speculation, e-mails. “I hear the slander of many…. They take council together against me” (Psalm 31:13). Jesus knows the feeling…and knew what to do about it. “In the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed” (Mark 1:35).
Devotion is “garbage out.” That relief comes when we name our fear and then light upon a word or two in our reading. Martin Luther wrote, “Often in my meditation I come across such rich thoughts that I disregard the other six petitions (of the Our Father). When such a wealth of ideas comes, one should…make room for such thoughts, listen silently and certainly not hinder them from coming. Under these conditions the Holy Spirit is preaching and in His sermon one word is better than a thousand in our prayer.” (A Simple Way to Pray)
Private daily devotion not only helps you cope with people; it opens your soul for God to come in. “He showed me the wonders of His love” (Psalm 31:21). It is the way of Christ for us today.
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