SUSAN PYKE | GUEST
What’s in a day? Every life has a first day. I recently witnessed that joyful day in my first grandchild’s life! And we all will have a last day. We can probably describe our happiest day, and our saddest. Days that felt like they would never end, and days that ended much too soon. We are anxious about upcoming days: the scheduled biopsy, a meeting with our child’s teacher, a presentation at work, or the day the rent is due.
The simple truth that God gives us each day to live for His glory can quickly get lost in these emotions and anxieties. How can we remember to praise and trust God for today when our minds and hearts are filled with memories from the past and fear about the future?
We can find help with this searching question in John 1:1-5. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
With these verses in mind, we can go through our day more intentionally aware of Christ’s love and life for us. In the morning, we remember that Jesus, who was there at the first morning of creation, abides with us today. At mid-day we remember his sacrificial, redeeming love for us. At the close of the day, we see his truth by the light of his life in our darkness. God’s design of the daily rhythm of any given day can remind us to praise the Giver of days.
Like the First Morning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Every morning is an echo of the first morning, the beginning of all days. God created and named “day” and “night” when he separated light from darkness (Gen. 1:3-5). In his gospel, John affirms that Jesus was with God in creating that new day. The One who would have a birthday and dwell with us on earth has been with God since before days began, and he will be forever. His love for us is enduring and steadfast. “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!” (Lam. 3:22b, 23). When we awake each morning, we can trust our day to the Maker of days.
Daily Renewing
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Mid-day is an appropriate time to remember both Christ’s sacrifice and the new life we have in him. It was at mid-day on Good Friday that Jesus died on the cross, and darkness reigned.
Imagine that day when “the sun stopped shining” (Luke 23:45). Cold, threatening, and hopeless. Are you facing a darkness in your day that feels like it could stop the sun from shining?
Remember that Jesus went into the darkness of sin and death for us, and he overcame it with his glorious light and resurrection life. We live in newness of life because of the light that he brings into the world’s darkness. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
The One who created all things is making all things new. Each day we can choose to participate in Christ’s renewing work in the world by the power of his Holy Spirit in us. Through our work and service to others we are the hands and feet of Jesus to restore creation to the abundance and flourishing that God intended. As we work, rest, play, and serve, we can devote our day to the Keeper of days.
Light in the Night
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
We are often weary at night. We worry in the dark, sleepless hours before dawn. At night we are most aware that we live our days on earth in the shadow of death. Yet God who made the night reigns over even its darkness, and we are safe in him. Psalm 139 assures us that “even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (v. 12).
At night, in the fearful hours, we remember that nothing “in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness of night, of this world, and of death. His is the everlasting light of eternal life that we will have in his shining presence, where there will be no more night (Rev. 22:5). At the end of every given day, we can rest in the safety of the Protector of days.
About the Author:
Susan Pyke
Sue Pyke is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Trinity Presbyterian Church in San Diego, CA. She is passionate about developing creative resources and materials for spiritual formation. Sue is the board president of Hope for San Diego, a nonprofit that connects its partner churches with nonprofits working with vulnerable communities in San Diego. She is from Montana and loves to go to the mountains to hike and ski with her husband and family of three adult sons, two daughters-in-law, and grandson.