Soaked in Grace

Liquid linseed gleams in shallow puddles on the dining table.  It’s a raw rubber-wood surface that requires frequent oiling to protect it and keep up it’s appearance.  I’ve neglected the task for a few months and the wood has become dry.  Lifeless.  Dull.  One would imagine that such thirsty wood should eagerly soak up the rich liniment offered to it, but it’s not the case.  Like ground parched and drought-afflicted, the moisture sits unappreciated above, taking prolonged time to seep into pores and cracks.  Gradually, eventually, with coaxing and rubbing, the oils sink deep into our table once again, and it’s glory is restored.

And my soul has been a little parched these past few days.  Not well-watered with the Word or prayer or song or thoughts of God.  Lacking lustre.  So it should come as little surprise that when I come again to receive the enhancing work of God, I don’t absorb it as readily as such soul condition requires.  It takes time.  More of it than usual.  Time to ponder, review, confess, to purposefully look to heaven and to Christ, to wait before him.  To wait for Him to rub it in, to massage puddles of grace into my soul …

A perpetually oiled surface has no trouble receiving it’s nourishment.  And gently, through yet another picture of the everyday, I am reminded to remain ever in a state to receive.  To be constantly in the presence of God.  To cultivate a soul that through the regular applications of God is conditioned to accept all He means to impart.  I wish not to grow dim and unreceptive to the workings of God within.  I desire that this life should ever gleam as I daily, momentarily, soak in His presence.   ~ A Daily Devotion

Today,
For what I am that I ought not to be,
Forgive me.
For what I am not that I ought to be,
Forgive me.

Be with my mouth in what it speaks
Be with my hands in what they do
Be with my mind in what it thinks
Be with my heart in what it feels

Work in me
… through me
… for me
… in spite of me
In the precious name of Jesus,
Amen



Let all that I am wait quietly before God. 
{ Psalm 62:5 }