Realizing how much the Lord loves us with the help of our daily devotional - Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

Monday, October 11, 2010

One Thing...

"The one thing you absolutely need is the one thing you can never lose..."

How amazing are those words! What would it be like to walk through life every day with this thought at the front of our minds and calming our hearts: I cannot lose the only thing I really need- and that is Jesus.

Some of you may have heard of this prayer by Soren Kierkegaard, but it is one of my favorites and rather than write my own thoughts and words I thought I would share this with you girls today- and it is kind of long but SO GOOD! Love you all!

Father in Heaven! What is a man without Thee! What is all that he knows, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if he does not know Thee! What is all his striving, could it even encompass the world, but a half-finished work if he does not know Thee: Thee the One, who art one thing and who art all! So may Thou give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing; to the heart, sincerity to receive this understanding; to the will, purity that wills only one thing. In prosperity may Thou grant perseverance to will one thing; amid distractions, collectedness to will one thing; in suffering, patience to will one thing. Oh, Thou that giveth both the beginning and the completion, may Thou early, at the dawn of day, give to the young man the resolution to will one thing. As the day wanes, may Thou give to the old man a renewed remembrance of his first resolution, that the first may be like the last, the last like the first, in possession of a life that has willed only one thing. Alas, but this has indeed not come to pass. Something has come in between. The separation of sin lies in between. Each day, and day after day something is being placed in between: delay, blockage, interruption, delusion, corruption. So in this time of repentance may Thou give the courage once again to will one thing. True, it is an interruption of our daily tasks; we do lay down our work as though it were a day of rest, when the penitent (and it is only in a time of repentance that the heavy-laden worker may be quiet in the confession of sin) is alone before Thee in self-accusation. This is indeed an interruption. But it is an interruption that searches back into its very beginnings that it might bind up anew that which sin has separated, that in its grief it might atone for lost time, that in its anxiety it might bring to completion that which lies before it. Oh, Thou that givest both the beginning and the completion, give Thou victory in the day of need so that what neither a man’s burning wish nor his determined resolution may attain to, may be granted unto him in the sorrowing of repentance: to will only one thing.

1 comment:

  1. WOW! That is something I could meditate on for SO long. I love your heart< Katie- but OH HOW BLESSED you are with a mind that stretches and searches. Others are better because of your mind. That is inspiring!

    Love you,

    Kristin

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