Devotional Thought of the Day
¹⁰  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

It is God’s will and express command that believers should do good works which the Holy Spirit works in them, and God is willing to be pleased with them for Christ’s sake and he promises to reward them gloriously in this and in the future life. (1)  

Our faith is not for ourselves alone; it is also for others. Faith wants to be shared. Consequently, it always involves a going out to others, going with the steps of a heart enlightened by the name of Jesus.  (2)

It is another Monday.
We’ve left our sanctuaries, and re-entered the harsh “reality” of the world.(3)
We’ve left behind the peace and joy and restoration we encountered at our churches.
We’ve left behind the security and love that surrounds our homes.

Now, in our workplaces, in our classrooms, in our doctor’s offices, we realize it is Monday.  The day we claim to dread, the day were frustrations forgotten for a brief moment called “the weekend” come back to hammer us.

It is now time we get to do God’s work, to see how the praises we sang and said yesterday turn into worship today.  For today is our day of worship, the day to praise God with our lives.  It is the day to see our faith become more than what we think, but to be what we know, what we rejoice in, to be what we share.

It is time to see God turn us into His masterpiece; It is time to encounter Jesus in the faces of the least of these.  Those broken, those beaten and harassed.  Those so destroyed by their own sin, those so crushed by the sins of others, that they don’t know how to do anything but strike out in frustration.  Those so broken that in pain they cause us pain and frustration. They may not look like the least, but God knows their need, and you’ve been sent, so go…to the least…

This is where worship proves the transformation that God is causing in our lives.  As we embrace those who antagonize us, who would hurt us,  who strike out with words, and yes sometimes with violence. As we go to them, as we trust in God’s guidance, we worship Him by embracing them.  We worship God by knowing He can change them, calm them, transform them. Even those that need a miracle to change.  In Christ, we find the strength to imitate Him, and bear our crosses, for them, because He bore a cross for us.

It’s a Monday; it is time to worship… let nothing distract you from His love, or the least of these.

(1)  Tappert, T. G. (Ed.). (1959). The Book of Concord the confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. (p. 557). Philadelphia: Mühlenberg Press.

(2)  Ratzinger, J. (1992). Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations for Every Day of the Year. (M. F. McCarthy & L. Krauth, Trans., I. Grassl, Ed.) (p. 317). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

(3)  I would contend that we confuse reality, for reality is best determined by God’s perspective, not our own.