Day By Day #23

Day by Day #23

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: John 13:34–35

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Devotional

Jewish theologian Martin Buber argued that in most of our routine interactions we tend to treat people as objects or means to an end, which he described as “I-It” relationships. However, the healthiest or most mature relationships between human beings are those Buber characterized as “I-Thou” relationships.

These true relationships, said Buber, can exist only between two people willing to connect across their differences. God fills that in-between space of an I-Thou relationship. God not only can be glimpsed in genuine dialogue between the two persons, but also penetrates the space between them, making it sacred space:

The central tenet of Buber’s life work was that the I-Thou relationship between persons intimately reflects the I-Thou relationship humans have with God. Genuine relationship with any Thou shows traces of the “eternal Thou.” This helps to explain why it is a powerful experience when we listen deeply to someone. When genuine love is found in a relationship, God’s presence is manifest. The space that once separated us becomes sacred space.^a

Question to Consider

What adjustments might you need to make to treat each person you meet today as a “Thou” rather than an “It”?

Prayer

Lord, help me slow down so that I don’t treat people as objects or obstacles to be overcome. Thank you that you always treat me as a Thou. With your help, I want to do the same for others this day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1–3

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Devotional

This passage makes an astounding claim: It is possible to operate in the power of the Spirit through miracles and spiritual gifts and not be a Christian. You can build a great ministry for God—doing miracles, sacrificing everything you have, and using spiritual gifts—and not be a real follower of Jesus Christ at all. In fact, the apostle Paul goes so far as to call all these actions “nothing.”

Perhaps even more astonishing, it appears that the level of spiritual power and gifting operating through a believer’s life may have little to do with spiritual maturity. Spiritual gifts can operate through us even when we remain spiritual infants. According to Paul, the only true sign of the Spirit at work is supernatural love, not gifts or even “successful” results.

Love is the only accomplishment on earth that will last forever. In heaven, we will love each other perfectly, utterly, and without any limits. When we live out this agape (unconditional) love on earth, we are experiencing the authentic kingdom of God. We taste heaven.

Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), one of America’s best-known theologians and preachers, offers us this beautiful description of what heaven will be like:

Heaven [is] a world of love; for God is the fountain of love, as the sun is the fountain of light. And therefore the glorious presence of God in heaven, fills heaven with love, as the sun, placed in the midst of the visible heavens in a clear day, fills the world with light. The apostle tells us that “God is love;” and therefore, seeing he is an infinite being, it follows that he is an infinite fountain of love.^b

The purpose of the Christian life, therefore, is not about doing more things for God, “fixing” people, or even making the world a better place. It is simply to love people the way God loves us, to give everyone we encounter a taste of heaven on earth.

Question to Consider

What might be one practical way you can slow down in order to love someone in the next twenty-four hours?

Prayer

Lord, I ask you to do a supernatural work of grace in my heart so that I might love people like you do. Grant me the grace to be patient and kind, not envious or proud, filling me with the water that overflows from your infinite fountain of love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, 183.

^b Jonathan Edwards, Heaven: A World of Love (North Charleston, S.C.: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013), 4.