E-votional - Return
February 11, 2002
Verse:

"Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing."

Joel 2:12-13 (NRSV)

Thought:

   Love. It does crazy things. Picking up doggie accidents, allowing that baby girl to jump on your stomach after too much Mexican food. When your child runs away, you welcome them back, though, not without significant changes. Often times, it causes us to want more for someone than they want for themselves.

   Hear the Good News, just as Joel calls us to return to the Lord, our own experience of Christ creates a yearning to return to and refocus on God. So often when we are drawn away from God, we do not realize it until after the fact. Allowing us to get caught up in the who, the where, the what, but once we come to our senses and put our self interest aside, God's call and presence points to the path we are to follow. The path, the renewed direction, while not necessarily the easiest of treks, is none the less there for us to take, before us to follow.  

Prayer:  

   Gracious God, grace You offer and grace I am called to receive. Allow me to refocus myself on You, allow my life to reflect not only Your presence, but Your direction in and over my life. I am here, here on the earth and in my family to share who You and to make a difference, allow me to do so, all the while sharing Your grace and mercy. Thank You for all that You have done in my life and all You will continue to do, for ask this through Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.