Day 197, Evening
Today’s evening meditation is available below in audio and script formats. The audio version is also available for free download on the player.
Reading
“Temperance is love surrendering itself wholly to Him who is its object; courage is love bearing all things gladly for the sake of Him who is its object; justice is love serving only Him who is its object, and therefore rightly ruling; prudence is love making wise distinctions between what hinders and what helps itself.”
—Saint Augustine
Quiet
As your day draws to a close, spend a few moments in silence and stillness meditating on the words you just read.
Commentary
The Love of God is not something that descends miraculously from the skies. It can be fostered and deepened immensely through our own effort. At present, very little of our love may be flowing to our highest ideals. Most of it is flowing down other channels – towards money, or pleasure, or a new sports car.
In some cases, our vital capacity has been flowing down these channels for so long that they are cut very deep. Then, when the time comes to dam these channels up and divert the love in them to flow toward the Lord or The Divine, we feel we are standing there throwing pebbles into the Grand Canyon.
Don’t be discouraged by the immensity of the task. Just keep on throwing in the pebbles. They may not seem like much, but after a while they all add up.
Prayer
Lord of the Sabbath, I can faithfully observe a day of rest and yet miss its point. Your rest is the goal of life; it’s what you intended for all of creation—to know you and enjoy all your goodness. Thank you for the gospel invitation to catch my breath, to stop all my striving and enjoy. Amen. (HC)
Blessing
May your love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may able to discern what is best for your life.
—Philippians 1 (NT)
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Abbreviations
BC The Belgic Confession
CAC The Center For Action & Contemplation
CD The Canons of Dort
CIB Church In Bethesda Prayers
DZ - Donna Z.
HC The Heidelberg Catechism
MAO - Michael A. O’Sullivan
NT The New Testament
OT The Old Testament
RP - Ryan Phipps
WC The Westminster Confession
WLB Words To Live By
WLC The Westminster Larger Catechism
WSC The Westminster Shorter Catechism