Then Elijah brought him down
from the upper room and gave him to his mother.
"Look, your son is alive!" he said.
(I Kings 17:23, NLT).
This is the last day of January 2008. Did you get that? The month is over. Finished. Done. The thing is . . . if we are not careful . . . time will go by . . . and we will miss the value of what God has given us . . . the gift of life in that segment of time. It makes sense that at the end of each day, month, and year that we should take time to look back and give thanks for the life we have received in all circumstances.
Look back to the ancient days. Can you imagine the scene that the writer of I Kings has created? Elijah had carried the dead boy to the upper room, leaving the grieving mother alone. What happened to her when he had left? Most likely, she experienced the devastation of incomparable loss. Her world most likely had turned gray, tasteless, and senseless.
Then, Elijah carrying her son back down to her, announced,
"Look your son is alive!"
The range of her emotions must have been out of control. To see her son filled with life could not have been easily processed. She must have had to take another look . . . and she must have always seen her son differently after that . . . realizing how much she loved him.
The contrast of death and life must be noted . . . in our thoughts, words, and actions . . . we need to take another look and ask . . . am I responding to this circumstance through the mindset of death or life?
The Apostle Paul explained to the Corinthians:
But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we exist for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life (I Corinthians 8:6, NLT).
Take another look at this verse . . .it says "we exist for him."
What does that mean to you and I?
You and I exist to be in a love relationship with God.
Take time to think about that . . . it defines the purpose of life in every thought, word, and action ...
Take time to look back and evaluate this last month.
Do you see the life you have received through a love relationship with God?
Take another look.
Give thanks.
Celebrate.
Learning with to you to take another look!
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)
