Spent

We trailed by a few points late in the game. We were at the tail end of four straight games against the best basketball teams in the state and the winner would be crowned champion. During a break in the action, with my hands on my knees, I found myself spent with exhaustion. The game had ceased to be pretty and would now be decided by who could muster the most strength. With determination and a few good breaks, we caught up and won the game in the final seconds. We were “spent” but the jubilation of what we had just accomplished overwhelmed the fatigue.

Through every film study session and grueling practice, our team was committed to spending everything we had on that basketball season and on that game to become champions. And we succeeded.

What about the 38-year-old version of me? What about you? What about us? In our quest for God are we missing the righteousness God has laid before us (v.2)? And am I spending myself on a piety in which I exalt my own humility (v.3)? I don’t know about you, but I love to be smart, I love to be right, and I love a good exaltation. I will spend myself on myself no questions asked. The dichotomy is that we also yearn for people to know this God of love. We want his light to flood the darkness in the same way our team’s jubilation overwhelmed our fatigue. But how? By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can spend ourselves on behalf of the hungry and the oppressed. This is what unleashes the light into the darkness.

Father in Heaven, may we, your Church, be spent on the kind of fasting you have chosen. Amen.

Throughout this Day: Ask God to show you how to spread his light and love around you.