Psalm 116:12-19 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 116:12-19 on biblegateway.com
Verse 12What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me?
Verse 13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord,
Verse 14I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Verse 15Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.
Verse 16O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds.
Verse 17I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord.
Verse 18I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
Verse 19in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!
Devotion
For my family, this Christmas represents something of a lull between the frenzied storms of gift-giving. Most of us around the circle are now well into adulthood. The next generation of children is too young to participate fully in the gift-giving spectacle. As I glanced around the circle this year, I was touched again by the truth of what is really precious, not the tree or the presents beneath, but rather the people gathered there.
Look how precious the times are that we share together as family. How expansive God's love is. How God's family is all encompassing. Yet so many members of this family have so little. What shall I return to the Lord for all God's bounty to me? I will seek to share the bounty, to offer my life as a thanks-giving and a witness to how precious each person is in the sight of the Lord.
Prayer
Bountiful and merciful God; by your grace, fill our lives with your love so that we may be for others the gift and blessing you intend. Amen.