1 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
'All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.'
I am greatly helped when thinking of blessing, both as an act of praise to God (and therefore to “bless God”) and as a receiving of help from God through the prayers of the Church (the act of giving and receiving blessings). It is in these ways that we “become blessings” for one another and offer blessings to God – by living true to who God has made us as his people.
Learning to give thanks, to bless God and others, in seasons of plenty and seasons of want, gives a positive appreciation of God in all of life. That positive foundation becomes essential when life puts the squeeze on us.
Ultimately, our destiny, as today’s scripture reminds us, is secure because of Jesus Christ. It is on these nursery slopes of our mortal life that we gain the experience for the mountain of eternity. All of our life can only make sense in light of our eternal objective. It’s not that we are being too heavenly minded to be of any earthly use; instead, we are discovering how to live with heaven in our heart – through all the complexities life serves up.
Discipleship requires a lot of letting go of the human drives that we might assume hold our lives together and direct our steps. We are to seek God’s presence in every moment of our life, and in doing so we discover fresh fuel to bless God. The manna, the miraculous provision of food for the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16), was never a series of ready meals safely stacked within the freezer against a rainy day. It was fresh every morning, just like the “steadfast love” of God (Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV).
QUESTION: As you recall your ultimate destination, how does that affect your day today?
PRAYER: Thank you for the prospect of eternity and for the provision of daily bread on earth today.

Released on 27 Mar 2020