Daily Devotional for June 19

 

June 19                                                         Luke 20:9-18

           The Parable of the Tenants

I sometimes find that I have made many assumptions about
my life that, because they are echoed by others around me,
are difficult to let go of. These assumptions often concern
ownership of the fruits of my work and claims on the results
of my labors.

It is so easy to forget that the abilities that allow me to work
and grow and achieve are gifts. I look instead at the hardships
I've worked through, the pain I've endured, the aloneness I've
felt. I focus on the effort I have expended to come to where
I am. Allowing my justifiable pride in the results of my labors
to grow into self-righteous pride is so easy that I forget the
gratitude I owe for the gifts that I've been given and for the
opportunities I've had to apply them.

At times, my pride even leads me to strike out at those who
remind me of the tenuous nature of my tenancy of life. I hold
on tightly to my life, rejecting the claims of others and denying
God's absolute ownership of all that I am and all that I do.
I chafe at the "distraction" of the small, nagging voice that
tries to get my attention. It is then that I feel the least joy in
my life, and then also, in a moment of grace, that I realize that
I am caught up in an ever more fright-filled attempt to cling
to what I have never really owned.

                God, help me to turn over to you the
            ownership of my life, to stop struggling so
    hard to hold onto things that have been freely given,
           and instead to offer gratitude for the many
                gifts with which you shower my life.

from The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C