| Friday, June 13, 2003 Meditation 2 Corinthians 4:7-15 All praise to you, Lord Jesus, for pouring the treasure of your divine life into the “earthen vessels” of our all-too-mortal lives! We thought we had everything we needed until we met you, and that’s when everything changed. We tried doing good things, but nothing could overcome the frustrations, angers, and fears. So much darkness lurked in our hearts and leaped out at times, causing pain to ourselves and our loved ones. Finally, we turned to you for help, and we were not disappointed.
Thank you, Jesus, for bringing your light and life into the darkness and death of our former lives! Thank you for taking away our every sin and nailing them to the cross once and for all. We praise you for cleansing us by your blood and offering us your own risen life! We adore you, O Christ, for letting us know and experience God’s love in so intimate and life-changing a way!
Jesus, we thank you for freeing us from a life of self-reliance, a life that was blind to your loving presence. We praise you even for the times when we don’t get our way—the times when we feel “perplexed, but not driven to despair, struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8,9)! For those are the times when we can turn to you for the gifts that only you can give: gifts of forgiving others, praying for those who hurt us, and joining in your suffering, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and best of all, the gift of life eternal with you in heaven!Temptations to fall into our old familiar ways will always come, but your grace is more than sufficient to strengthen us. You will always give us the opportunity to choose life over death, and for this reason we will always be grateful for your love and your ability to intervene in our lives.
Lord Jesus, we want nothing more than to surrender to you! We were without hope and without God, and you saved us. Wherever we are, in whatever situation we find ourselves, we know you are with us and will show us the way we should go.
“Confident, Lord, in your victory over evil and death, we join the hosts of heaven in grateful thanksgiving as we cry, ‘Dying, you destroyed our death. Rising, you restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in glory!’ ” |
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