O Day Full Of Grace, ELW 627
Devotion
Each day is a day of grace, a gift granted to us. Do we acknowledge that gift and awake each day giving thanks for another day, for the privilege of being about the Lord’s business? As the years progress and experience increases, there is a growing realization of the precious nature of each day.
Part of the blessing of retirement has been that there is more time for reflection, appreciation and thanksgiving. But we need not be retired to recognize that this day is a gift, full of grace.
In this hymn of joy, we ask that God’s name would be branded into our hearts. Picture a cowboy taking a blazing branding iron and marking the calves’ identity for life. By the Spirit we are branded children of God in baptism, sealed by the cross of Christ by the Spirit. The victory of the cross, the Easter event, brings us joy. Through the giving of his Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we receive the flame that effaces the very marks of sin on us. And when we take that final journey, we go with “our hearts aglow,” for we “walk in the light” of God’s presence with the angels.
Prayer
Even so, come, Holy Spirit. We thank you that you have marked us “with the cross of Christ forever.” Help us to live a life of witness to the appreciation of all that you give us, in Jesus' name. Amen.