Monday, July 27, 2020
Being the Beloved
“Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you have touched the wet ground, you want to dig deeper. I have been doing a lot of digging lately and I know that I am just beginning to see a little stream bubbling up through the dry sand. I have to keep digging because that little stream comes from a huge reservoir beneath the desert of my life. The word ‘digging’ might not be the best word, since it suggests hard and painful work that finally leads me to the place where I can quench my thirst. Perhaps all we need to do is remove the dry sand that covers the well. There may be quite a pile of dry sand in our lives, but the One who so desires to quench our thirst will help us to remove it. All we really need is a great desire to find the water and drink from it.” pages 37-38
Pray this week that God will help you to identify the “sand” that needs to be removed from your life, those things that impede on your ability to draw from the well where God wants to quench your thirst for justice and holiness.
Question to Ponder: What might the “sand” be in your life? What is preventing you from drawing from the well of God’s goodness?
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Crossroad Publishing, New York. 2014.
Being the Beloved
“Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you the Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply. It is like discovering a well in the desert. Once you have touched the wet ground, you want to dig deeper. I have been doing a lot of digging lately and I know that I am just beginning to see a little stream bubbling up through the dry sand. I have to keep digging because that little stream comes from a huge reservoir beneath the desert of my life. The word ‘digging’ might not be the best word, since it suggests hard and painful work that finally leads me to the place where I can quench my thirst. Perhaps all we need to do is remove the dry sand that covers the well. There may be quite a pile of dry sand in our lives, but the One who so desires to quench our thirst will help us to remove it. All we really need is a great desire to find the water and drink from it.” pages 37-38
Pray this week that God will help you to identify the “sand” that needs to be removed from your life, those things that impede on your ability to draw from the well where God wants to quench your thirst for justice and holiness.
Question to Ponder: What might the “sand” be in your life? What is preventing you from drawing from the well of God’s goodness?
This week’s devotions are adapted from the book, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World by Henri J.M. Nouwen. Crossroad Publishing, New York. 2014.
