Today’s scripture: Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
Zephaniah 3:17b “. . . [God] will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
My thoughts (Brent Walsh):
The air was brisk, so I pulled my jacket around me tighter as I huddled just out of sight of the front door. My sister, brother-in-law and their children entered my parents’ house with jubilant Thanksgiving greetings, then shut the door behind them. I studied the rocks under my feet as I imagined my parents hugging everyone and hanging coats in the hall closet. My sister would be making her way to the kitchen with her foil-covered dish, and the kids would be racing to the family room to play. My breath made puffs in the cold air as I hopped on the balls of my feet and waited for the perfect moment to make my silent entrance.
The weeks preceding Thanksgiving are usually hectic for the trucking industry as stores double up on their inventories in preparation for the rush of shoppers. I had been offered a special bonus if I would stay on the road over Thanksgiving, and I had agreed. I told my mother about this arrangement several weeks earlier, explaining that I would try to spend extra time with the family around Christmas to make up for my absence at Thanksgiving. She was sad, but this wasn’t the first holiday I had missed since I had started driving a semi for a living. She missed me, but she was starting to get used to it.
It was only three days before Thanksgiving that I learned my company had covered all the loads they had been assigned, and they didn’t need as many trucks on the road as they had thought. I was free to go home. I picked up the phone to call my mother with the good news, but then decided against it. Instead, I called my sister and told her the story. We decided that I would sneak into town the night before Thanksgiving, ride with my sister, and surprise mom on Thanksgiving Day. So there I stood, hiding in broad daylight outside my parents’ house.
I looked at my watch. It had been about three minutes since my sister’s family had closed the door behind them. Time to make my move. I walked up to the door, closed my hand around the knob, and ever-so-slowly turned the handle. As I slid inside, the aroma of turkey and stuffing met me and made me realize how much I would have missed this time with family. I slid the coat from my shoulders and let it fall to the floor as I rounded the corner and stood in the kitchen doorway. My mother’s back was to me, and my sister had to try not to give me away with her smile. I held my breath. . . my mother turned. . . our eyes met. . . a second passed. . . her mind processed. . . then. . . hands to her face. . . a flood of tears. . . and she was in my arms. Her sobs shook her entire body as she clung to me, as if for dear life. My sister started to cry at the sight of it, and my own tears threatened to spill over. At that moment I felt like I was the most important thing in the world to my mother. Any thought of poise and dignity was thrown to the wind as she allowed emotion to envelop her. It was a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.
Sometimes when I read a scripture or hear a song about God’s love for us, I think of that moment in my mother’s arms and wonder if that is how God feels about us. Do you think we can evoke that kind of elated, undignified, emotional response in the heart of our Creator? I believe we can, and we do.
Thought for the day: This Thanksgiving, if God’s love makes the list of things you’re thankful for, I challenge you to throw out your picture of a stoic, reserved, unemotional figure on a throne somewhere in a distant paradise. Instead, picture a God who is so excited by your presence that God runs across the room, eyes overflowing with tears, and pulls you into an embrace that makes you feel like you are the most important thing in the world — because you are!
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.