June 25

“Those crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.”

I read this verse and I try to imagine insulting someone while I myself am hanging on a cross. It seems almost absurd. And yet, here it is. A powerful illustration of the absolute depths of man’s pride. When am I like those people? The difference between their situation and mine is simply that their dying process is happening in a lot more obvious way than my own. They are like me. They seem to be trying to ignore that it is even happening at all. If I had but one day to live, the first thing I would give up is hate. Hate and anger. People who are rude to me, people who cut me off in traffic … I just wouldn’t let it get to me. And yet, as I get so self-absorbed in “getting even” or “teaching that person a lesson,” I act as though I’ve got all the time in the world. All the time to forgo life-giving experiences.

DEAR GOD, HELP ME TO APPRECIATE THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE. LET ME LIVE TODAY THE WAY YOU WANT ME TO LIVE. AMEN.

-Shared by Scott Dickson