Daily Devotion for February 10, 2006

Dancing

 

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.  Psalm 30:11-12

 

I like snow!

 

We have an office dog.  Her name is Luna.  We refer to her as the resident therapist – and Lord knows we all need one.  I watched Luna the other day from my window as she was out in the snow.  She approaches snow as an unexpected delight. She sniffs the air, nose up, tail wagging furiously. There's one still moment while she holds herself in expectation, then she hurls herself headlong into a cloud of white, plunging into the deepest part of it as though it were there just for her amusement. She rolls, revels, glories, delights in it. She sticks her head into a snow bank just to see what's there, and comes out looking like a reverse of her black self. She eats it, gobbling it down with doggy enthusiasm, like some great sweet manna from heaven. She throws herself around in it with wild abandon, and comes up snorting, wagging, and laughing.

 

  
Never once does it occur to her that she has to earn the right to play in the snow. It's just there. It's a gift.

 

It occurs to me that we should approach God's grace with the same delight, joy and enthusiasm. We should hurl ourselves into it, roll in it, cover ourselves with it, snarf it up with great gusto and let it melt in our mouths, trickling down to the very core of us. We should delight in it, reveling and dancing with abundant joy, hooting with laughter.

 

Would God want us to enjoy His gift to us any other way?

 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me delight in your gift of grace instead of feeling burdened by what sometimes feels like an obligation to respond. Give me the ability to dance with enthusiasm; help me to plunge into the deepest part of this sweet manna; help me accept what you give so freely. Father, encourage me to roll in an enormous drift of your love, grinning from ear to ear with wild, abundant joy. Amen.

 

---

Did someone send you this Devotion? Would you like to receive future ones directly? Click here to subscribe.

Tim Hetzner - President - Lutheran Church Charities
		333 W. Lake Street, Addison, Illinois 60101
		(866) 455-6466 • Fax: (866) 451-1476
		Web Site: lcc.LutheranChurchCharities.org
		E-Mail: TimHetzner@LutheranChurchCharities.org
At the end of the day. . . Making A Difference In People's Lives and In God's Kingdom