Saturday, December 10
Revelation 3:1-2
Many of us have had the experience of falling in love passionately. Then, if the love cools and passion wanes, we despair and break down. Does this happen in our relationship with God? Do we feel that God does not care for us anymore?
Are we at the point of breaking up with God? Thomas Merton in his book “The New Man” writes, “This purpose in life is not the mere individual self-centered, egotistical life which is doomed to end in death, but a life that transcends individual limitations and needs, and subsists in the individual self in the Absolute—in Christ, in God.”
One careless step forward and we would have fallen into the abyss. God holds us with great compassion and vigilance. God’s word says, “Awake, and strengthen what remains.” The little remnant of our broken self needs the strength and understanding of God to wrap around us. God created us with love and in God’s perfect image. How do we live up to God’s perfect works? We must come back to intimacy with God. God’s spirit in us will work to create a change in our being, our nature, when we surrender ourselves completely to God. Then we are ready to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might, and to love others as ourselves. This is the miracle of Advent.
PRAYER
God of love, give us boundless energy for productive thoughts, action, and love. Free us from our weaknesses and fears, and keep us in the unity of your boundless love. Amen.
Elder Peng Cheng Leong, volunteer intern, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations
Maspeth, New York