Tes œuvres magnifiques

Éternel, notre Seigneur! que ton nom est magnifique par toute la terre; tu as mis ta majesté au-dessus des cieux! Psaume 8. 1

Je chanterai, Seigneur, tes œuvres magnifiques,
Ton immense pouvoir, ta suprême grandeur;
Au chant des rachetés j'unirai les cantiques
Que ton Esprit met dans mon cœur.

Oh! Seigneur notre Dieu, ta parole est féconde!
L'univers fut jadis l'ouvrage de ta voix;
Tu dis… les éléments, le ciel, la terre et l'onde
Du néant sortent à la fois.

Le monde passera; ce superbe édifice
Un jour s'ébranlera jusqu'en ses fondements.
Ta sagesse, grand Dieu, ta bonté, ta justice
Subsisteront dans tous les temps.

Et tu promets, Seigneur, une terre nouvelle
Où sous un ciel nouveau ton peuple habitera.
Là, toujours avec toi, d'une joie éternelle
Ta présence le comblera.


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Taking Shortcuts

Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

Most things worth doing are difficult.

Sipping her tea, Nancy gazed out her friend’s window and sighed. Spring rains and sunshine had coaxed a riotous expanse of color from a well-groomed flowerbed of lilies, phlox, irises, and evening primrose.

“I want that look,” she said wistfully, “without all the work.”

The work of following Christ is difficult, but the reward is a full, joyful life now and forever.

Some shortcuts are fine—even practical. Others short-circuit our spirit and deaden our lives. We want romance without the difficulties and messiness of committing to someone so different from ourselves. We want “greatness” without the risks and failures necessary in the adventure of real life. We desire to please God, but not when it inconveniences us.

Jesus made clear to His followers that there is no shortcut that avoids the hard choice of surrendering our lives to Him. He warned a prospective disciple, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). To follow Christ requires a radical altering of our loyalties.

When we turn in faith to Jesus, the work just begins. But it is oh-so-worth-it, for He also told us that no one who sacrifices “for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age . . . and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29–30). The work of following Christ is difficult, but He’s given us His Spirit and the reward is a full, joyful life now and forever.

Father, I will find the strength to do the work You have for me to do, only as I rely on Your Holy Spirit. Help me, please, to be sensitive to that today.