“This Is The Day…”
Throughout the years I have heard many ministers begin a worship service by quoting Psalm 118:24, which reads “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” As a result I had pretty much associated this verse with Sundays. Upon further thought, however, I see that it is instead a reminder that every day is a gift from God. In my last post I talked about God’s continuing work of Creation; this passage acknowledges that each day is evidence of this ongoing work.
Last night I was reading a book by one of my favorite authors, Frederick Buechner. At one point he made a very insightful observation about Creation. He wrote: “Using the same old materials of earth, air, fire, and water, every twenty-four hours God creates something new from them. If you think you’re seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you’re crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again either.”
In light of what Beuchner says, I’m afraid there are a lot of crazy people out there. Far too many of us do, in fact, assume we’re “seeing the same show all over again” every day. But we’re not. No two sunrises are the same; nor are any two sunsets identical. If we will awaken each day with the awareness that “this is the day the Lord has made”, and that God is always up to something new, we may begin to notice more of the wonders of His ongoing Creation. I truly think that we miss a lot because we simply fail to look.
Every day is another gift from the Creator’s hand and, as the Psalmist reminds us, a cause for rejoicing. If we will make the effort and take the time to notice the newness of each day I suspect we will be far more likely to “rejoice and be glad in it.” I hope there will be much joy and gladness for you in these days to come.
–Chuck
(The top image is a sunrise from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The bottom image is a sunset taken just a few feet away from the same location.)