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MEDITATION:

Written by Kurt Sells, a contemporary teacher and director of Back to God ministries International.

In his discussion on Christian freedom, the apostle Paul touches on some important principles for following Jesus. While emphasizing our personal freedom in Christ, he urges that we respect where others are in their spiritual maturity. Embedded in this discussion is the most important principle for Christian living: in everything we do, we are to live for God’s glory. The Westminster Shorter Catechism lays out this lasting principle using the question “What is the chief end of man?” And it answers with a timeless, bedrock declaration: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”  Though we have all been created to glorify God, because of our sin and rebellion against him we live only to glorify and enjoy ourselves. And the tyranny of self-glorification brings us no enjoyment, just unending misery. But, praise God, when we’ve been saved by grace through faith, the Holy Spirit begins to reorient our lives, nudging, prompting, stirring us to live not for ourselves but for God. And as we grow in glorifying our Lord and Savior, we discover our true, lasting joy and purpose in God alone. Whatever you do today—from the most mundane chore to making the most weighty decision—do it all for God’s glory.

PRAYER:

The prayer today is from the Carmina Gadelica, a compilation of Scottish prayers, hymns, blessings, songs, proverbs and folkloric poems compiled by Alexander Carmichel between 1860 and 1909.

Thanks to thee, 0 God, that I have risen to-day,

To the rising of this life itself;

May it be to Thine own glory, 0 God of every gift,

And to the glory of my soul likewise.

0 great God, aid Thou my soul

With the aiding of Thine own mercy;

Even as I clothe my body with wool,

Cover Thou my soul with the shadow of Thy wing.

Help me to avoid every sin,

And the source of every sin to forsake;

And as the mist scatters on the crest of the hills,

May each ill haze clear from my soul, 0 God.