Focus

Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God.

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Read

Psalm 22:25-31 (NRSV)

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the LORD.
May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations.

To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.

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Reflect

Television commercials seem to have more and more messages about age-related topics: Medicare, life insurance, bathroom modifications, hearing loss. Mail campaigns cover the same topics. A trip to the grocery store or a restaurant may reveal more older patrons than young parents with children.

Sunday school enrollment and worship attendance may be top-heavy with middle-aged and older adults and fewer pre-school and school-aged children. Does it seem that there is a lack of younger congregants available to take the places of those who seemingly were always present to offer encouragement, nurture, and leadership? What will become of our local congregation and its ministries? What will become of the larger denomination and the church universal?

The psalmist reminds us that in the future families throughout the world will worship God, that God rules the nations, and unborn future generations will be told about God and God’s works. God will have a church in the end of time.

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Pray

Lord, I know I sometimes falter in my trust in you. I let the world and its distractions weigh on me and prevent me from realizing that you are God of the ages. Renew my trust and my joy in you. Let me hear the psalmist’s assurances of the future. Amen.

Go with God.