January 4

Day 296: Refreshed Meaning and Purpose for Today

And so it is. We all return to what we knew as normal. The holiday season has passed. Now, it's just winter. And darkness. And work. And darkness.

Christmas and New Year's passed quietly at our house. We did get five days to be with our children and their children. That was, for us, our celebration. How could it not?

But today is that annual day of dread. Today we all attempt to recapture former patterns and rhythms. Yesterday, I had to re-remember how to lead a church service. On Zoom. And today, on a dark Monday morning, I try to remember how to write a blog post. It's been eleven days since I last did so.

The quiet holiday season didn't do me all bad. I read. A lot. I finished up a few books I began reading weeks ago. I finished up reading Genesis. And Job. And find myself now most of the way through Exodus.

I think the thing that challenges me the most, today, is reengaging my brain for action. I have lived as a minimalist for the past few weeks. Now, mental minimalism is no longer an option.

I'll admit, however, my trigger pull is a bit slow. I feel like the last sprinter out of the starting blocks. The holiday weight I picked up, beginning this year in mid-March I think, isn't helping.

So to attempt to figure this all out, I am consigned to revisit what I know to be true. I am fickle. My thoughts change, and even contradict multiple times each day. I am consistent in my inconsistency. That much is true.

Reading, studying, preaching through the Book of Judges proves I am not alone. We humans are change artists. When left to our own devices, we tend downward. From pretty good to not so good.

With that, I wonder how our Savior can be so patient with any of us. How is it He is willing, every day, to bear with us, to put up with us?

Because He is not fickle. He is not inconsistent. He is not a change artist. His holiness, His character, His heart's motivations are never altered. He does what He chooses. And His choices are always the same. That, also is true.

He chooses to love you and me. His death gave us redemption. The Israelites had to "redeem" every first born son, by offering a substitute to die. Jesus did that for us. Jesus then rose from death to eternal life. To give us promise and hope for the very same.

Today, as I do exotic things like producing end-of-year giving statements, get my hair cut, and do some post-Covid quarantine food shopping, I will have more than enough time to consider the consistency of my God and Savior.

For He is what I am not. Even with my slowly reengaging brain and associated lack of initial motivation, He will love you and me with consistent and complete acceptance and love. In spite of you and me.

And that alone is motivation enough to reengage my slowly moving brain and find refreshed meaning and purpose for today.

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church Juneau

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