Spending This Day

Enlarge the place of your tent.
Isaiah 54:2
"What we do today is important-- 
we are exchanging a day of our life for it."
~anonymous

We are born with an allotted number of days,

and every night we give one of them back.

At the end of the day, the Lord asks

what we did with His day.

Were we just engaged in busyness

or did we enlarge the place of our tent?

God has planted us in the world to be

a visible demonstration of His goodness.

To the degree that we reflect His nature, 

we are His Word to those who read no Word.

We can only express what is real,

not what we want to be real.

Our cry has to be that He makes us more real.

God has chosen you and He loves you.

So your new life should be like this: 

Show mercy to others. Be kind...

Colossians 3:12

Recently God has been speaking

to me about His kindness.

The other day I walked past a woman

and didn't smile at her.

I have done this many times before.

But this time, the Lord spoke to me,

"You just missed a chance

to show My kindness."

Say what? 

I was genuinely startled by His words.

"You missed a chance to

surprise her with My goodness."

Kindness always puts another person first.

It always requires giving, and giving is

at the very center of God's nature.

Maybe it's a smile, or sincerely stopping,

looking someone directly in the eye 

and saying thank you,

or offering to help someone who's struggling.

Or showing mercy when someone is rude.

It's definitely recognizing the value in others.

Today, I will put my hand to many tasks which,

for the most part, are temporal.

But I want my heart in the eternal 

while spending this day.

I want to give more than I take--

I want to startle someone with Your goodness.