This Daily Devotion is to help our members and others reflect on the understanding of Christian service to our Lord.
Devotion for Monday, December 2, 2019
The Rt. Rev. Archimandrite, Msgr. George Appleyard
An Invitation to Prayer
O Lord, I have learned of your renown.
O Lord, I am awed by your works.
Renew them in these times.
Make them known in these days.
-Habakkuk 3:2
Psalm 118/119, Beth
How does a youth keep to the straight way?
By holding to your words!
I have sought you with my whole heart,
do not let me stray from your commandments.
I have planted your dictates in my heart,
so that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your laws.
I repeat all your statutes on my lips.
I delight in the way of your decrees
as much as in the greatest wealth.
I will study your commandments
and put my mind to your ways.
I will meditate on your statutes,
and I will not forget your words.
A reading from Basil’s, On the Human Condition
“Let us make the human being according to our image and likeness.”Gen. 1:26 Begin to understand yourself from now on. This statement was not recorded about anything else created. Light came to be after a simple command, for God said, “Let there be light”Gen. 1:3 He spoke, and it came to be. Here, before the human being even exists, there is a discussion about this human being. God did not say, as he did with the others, “Let there be a human being.” So learn well your own dignity. He did not bring about your origin by a command, but God took council to consider how to bring to life this very special living creature. “Let us make.” So, did God lose his skill? Does he discuss his work uneasily as he creates his masterpiece? Or did he intend to show you that you are perfect before him?
A Prayer based on Psalm 144
O Lord, what is humanity that you care about it?
Mere mortals, that you think of them?
People are only a breath; their days like a passing shadow.
Yet you testify yourself on our behalf,
that we are worth more than “many sparrows.”
Help me to estimate properly my worth
and that of the others who live and work with me.
And may my increasing appreciation of human worth
lead me to safeguard and nurture my neighbors,
all to your glory.
Amen!
Note
Habakkuk the prophet is remembered in the East today.