I am aware that this did not come to you this morning, and it is now late evening (some may not get this until the morning). I am reminded today of falling short, and this entry on Day 17 of the 40 days of Lent is coming to you now because today, I fell short of my duties.
It is easy to let the “squeaky wheel” be an excuse for taking all of our attention, but it does indeed happen. Lent is a season that is meant to focus us on our own tendencies, especially on those by which we are tempted to overlook, ignore, or delay.
Looking back on this day I find a lot of good work was done. And even still, the priorities I set forth resulted in my Lenten devotional to be set aside. It does happen, but better organization would have protected and prevented the delay.
Do you find yourself, at times, looking back and thinking “I sure fell short today!”? I am very familiar with this question, often to a fault (but not always). There is only so much time in a day, and so many are the demands upon our lives.
What do you do when you feel you have failed? Do you have a tendency to never think that, or are you the time that always thinks that way? I’m sure we have all felt both of these ways at times.
St. Paul says to the Roman Church (Romans 3:23, ESV) “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. There are days this truth bears heavy upon us. Thankfully, that is not the entire statement the Apostle offers, because he continues (verse 24) “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”.
I love getting gifts, but this is the best gift of all. Don’t you agree?
Tonight as the day ends, our verses of today come from Psalm 113:1-3 (KJV)-
Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord. 2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore. 3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.
Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for giving us the gift of forgiveness even as we fall short of glorifying You! AMEN.