Monday, December 28

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
—Luke 2:20

It’s often a surprise when things turn out as we thought, or when people keep their word, or when the expectation we had been given actually occurs, or when God really comes through. So often, our pessimism keeps us from faith. 

When it does happen as we thought it would, or as we were told it would, our heart feels like dancing. We smile and feel lighthearted.  We wonder why we didn’t trust more. We feel inside, “Of course, I knew it could be like this!”

It’s important to keep our word. It’s important to be careful to speak only what we know to be true. We have the capacity to bring others to deeper faith ourselves when we do this. We can help change the pessimism of the world into hope. 

We do this, by keeping our eyes and ears open to the Spirit speaking to us, and by believing that God will keep God’s word.  As we praise God for being faithful, we grow in our own desire to be faithful in what we speak to others. It’s important to keep our word.

Gracious God, help me think before I speak, and speak only what is true.