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Psalm 119 pulls out all the stops in celebrating God’s truth. His Word not only guides our steps and keeps us from getting off course, but also, in a phrase, it gives us life. Why do we read, study, reflect upon, and pray the Scriptures? Because in them we find life, life with meaning and purpose, life with depth and truth, life both now and forever. The Word of God guides us so that we might live life to the fullest.

For as much as we like to look at the work God has done, do we also recognize him as the God who rests—as the God who knows the value and necessity of rest? In our working lives, no matter what we do, do we value our own rest? Do we prioritize it, giving it equal respect as our work? I confess not being very good at this myself. Yet Genesis cements rest into the fabric of creation’s rhythms. Thank the Lord for that!

Yesterday, we reflected on Jesus as a revolutionary communicator who purposefully engaged with solitude and silence as a pattern for his ministry and life. Today, we’ll consider how solitude isn’t meant to disengage us from daily life but to help us reengage in the work that God has set before us... Far from being disengaged, a purposeful engagement with God in solitude leads to a greater fruitfulness in our entire lives and in our service to the world.

Why do stories captivate kids so much? Here’s something to consider: Have adults somehow wrongly categorized storytelling as “kid stuff”? Isn’t it true that we never hear the local library advertising story time for adults? And yet storytelling continues to be a significant part of our lives as we read books, watch movies, stream Ted Talks, and follow our favorite Instagram influencers. Perhaps, in our work, we are storytellers by trade...

Mercy is something we desperately need from God or we are utterly without hope. As we have seen, the first three verses of Ephesians 2 lay out the bad news of our living death as we are in bondage to sin and Satan, standing under God's judgment. But verse 4 makes a sharp U-turn: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy…” Notice that God doesn’t merely have mercy. He is “rich in mercy.”

At times in Scripture, such as in the book of Revelation, God’s wrath is indeed pictured dramatically as an experience of natural horrors, such as fire and brimstone. But in this theatrical imagery, we can miss the point of God’s wrath. It isn’t just about God’s anger. Rather, the wrath of God is his righteous judgment of sin and sinners. God’s wrath hates evil, despises injustice, and holds all of us accountable for the sin in our lives, our systems, and our world.

Ephesians 1 says that the very power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us. This does not mean, however, that we can control this power. The power of God is not like the Force in Star Wars, something we can learn to manipulate. Rather, we have access to God’s power because God dwells in us and among us through the Holy Spirit. God determines how his power will be used in our lives.

I don’t believe there is only one, simple “in a nutshell” summary of the Christian life since it can be rightly seen from a number of perspectives. But, if we want to summarize our life in Christ, we might take the lead from Paul in Ephesians 1:15. Here, he mentions two core qualities in the lives of the Christians who are reading his letter: faith and love. If you had to put the Christian life in a nutshell, you couldn’t do much better than this: faith and love.