7th. September. 2020. Daily Devotion.
An Olive Leaf
6 Forty days later Noah opened the window he had made in the boat, and 7 he sent out a raven. It flew here and there until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had dried up from the ground. 9 The dove could not find a place to land because water still covered the earth, so it came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird and brought it back into the boat.
10 After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat, 11 and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the ground was almost dry. 12 Seven days later he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back.
22 “As long as the earth continues, planting and harvest, cold and hot, summer and winter, day and night will not stop.” from Genesis Chapter 8
An olive leaf ~ Noah would have been happy to have the bird but to have the leaf! This leaf was more than foliage; this was promise. The bird brought more than a piece of a tree; it brought hope. For isn’t that what hope is? Hope is an olive leaf—evidence of dry land after a flood …
Don’t we love the olive leaves of life? “It appears the cancer may be in remission.” “I can help you with those finances.” “We’ll get through this together.”
What’s more, don’t we love the doves that bring them? When the father walks his son through his first broken heart, he gives him an olive leaf. When the wife of many years consoles the wife of a few months, when she tells her that conflicts come and all husbands are moody and these storms pass, you know what she is doing? She is giving an olive leaf. We love olive leaves. And we love those who give them. ~ from A Love Worth Giving Max Lucado.
You may note that the promise and the hope went far beyond the olive leaf – verse 22.
Prayer of thanks
Thank you, Source of all abundance for surrounding me with good things. But help me to remember that nothing of earthly value owns timeless truth. Let your immeasurable blessings transform how I perceive material benefits. Teach me to appreciate unchanging treasures: the wealth of your compassion, the grandeur of your wisdom, and the richness of reconciliation. Lighten my selfishness with simple faith. Help me to reveal your love more joyously. And strengthen me in grace, oh God, always to give the best that serves you most in humble gratitude. Amen.
Prayer of Penitence
Almighty Father, I enter your presence confessing the things I try to conceal from you and the things I try to conceal from others. I confess the heartbreak, worry, and sorrow I have caused, that make it difficult for others to forgive me, the times I have made it easy for others to do wrong, the harm I have done that makes it hard for me to forgive myself. Lord have mercy and forgive me, in the name of my Lord Christ, by your grace and love; and help me to grow in faith, that I might not repeat these sins. Amen.
Pray to God along your way
“Dear Lord, as I continue through this day, help me look to Jesus, my Overcomer, and find strength in Him. I give You my worries and fears, and every struggle, and I ask You to transform my thinking as I focus on things that are excellent and praiseworthy, and thoughts that will honour and please You. I pray my mind and heart will not be shaken by circumstances, but that I will lean hard into Your presence, peace, purpose, provision and power. Inspire my prayers for others suffering through the coronavirus pandemic. Thank you for being my hope and strength today. Amen.”
