Daily Bread January 01

Tangled
Larry McGuire of Gilbert, AZ, USA


But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. -Galatians 4:4-7

Each day I would walk from my room in the lodge down the hill to the dining hall. That path took me by a small pond where at least one person was usually fishing. Regardless of the time of day, someone was throwing a line to try to catch fish.

On the last day, I approached the pond, looked up, and noticed bobbers, hooks, and tangled lines along the power lines that ran above the water. I stood there and wondered, “How is it possible that so many people snagged their lines on those lines high above the water?”

As I walked toward my room, my mind raced, stuck on this question: How many times in my life have I had a situation where I’ve continued to wrestle with a tangled line and not simply cut and moved on with a new attempt?

I sat in my room, still wrestling with the image of the bobbers, hooks, and broken lines. This passage of scripture came to mind:

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all, in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized-whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ-but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!” (1 Corinthians 9:19-23, The Message).

Numerous times in my life I get stuck and even allow myself to remain stuck-emotionally, relationally, spiritually stuck at the threshold of new opportunities. I have allowed myself to be held back and stuck on trying to untangle the demands and expectations of others. I believe I am being challenged to cross the threshold from being stuck into a new imagination full of possibilities.

Prayer Phrase

“Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day…” (Psalm 139:12).

Spiritual Practice

Repeat this month’s prayer phrase slowly and intentionally within your heart. Invite this prayerful repetition to open a space of presence to the divine light within you. Where are you experiencing the light of God in your life and in the world?

Today’s Prayer for Peace

Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.

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