Think Outside the Water Bottle
“To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of [God’s] call.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12
Excuses abound for unworthiness. Even more, unworthiness is an excuse.
Consider thinking outside the water bottle when it comes to your call from God. We have so many habits that distance us from the divine. How about changing just one this week, and another next week? Think of it as taking one step on a stepladder to the heaven of worthiness.
Here’s one step to take: Water comes out of a tap. We don’t need to buy it in a bottle. We have cups and glasses. Even if we recycled the same water bottle or purchased the more politically correct type, we could step our way to a cleaner ocean.
Consider as well the spiritual side of the way you drink water. Many women in the world walk 20 miles a day to get water. They also send their children to fetch water, the same children who then can’t go to school. We become worthy of our call not just by keeping the ocean clean. We become worthy of our call by treasuring our water and remembering, always, in every way, who has and who has not. I do ridiculous things not to waste water, like using the dog’s bowl to water the plants if the dog bowl needs freshening. Or washing dishes in the most conserving ways I can imagine.
Doing these things won’t make me worthy of God’s call. But it will remind me of whose I am and who my friends elsewhere are. Worthiness might be a side effect. I might even run out of excuses.
Prayer
Oh, God, take us away from our hellish habits to spiritually-steppedrituals that ache to be worthy. Amen.
About the AuthorDonna Schaper is Senior Minister at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Check out her book: Prayers for People Who Say They Can’t Pray.