By preparing our hearts to serve God each day, we will not be caught off-guard when the time of testing comes (Lk 12:36-40). It will be second-nature, in fact, our new nature, to "seek to serve Him constantly" (Ps 105:4). Daily we ask for the grace to "serve the Lord with gladness" (Ps 100:2).
Each day, give to God your life, will, health, desires, hopes, and dreams. Then, when the test comes, your daily practice has trained your nature to offer everything up to God. Our Master's will is "known beforehand" so we "might have courage" (Wis 18:6) and be "ready" when the test comes (see Gn 22:1).
God is "the Tester of our hearts" (1 Thes 2:4), and we are the students. He uses our trials "to test [us] by affliction and find out whether or not it was [our] intention to keep His commandments" (Dt 8:2).
Life in Christ is an open-book test. We find the answers in the inspired Sacred Scriptures and in the Sacred Tradition of the Church. We should set aside time each week to study our faith, even daily if possible.
| PRAYER: | Father, You never give a test I can't pass (1 Cor 10:13). Grace me to spend my life preparing to pass every test You send me, that You may be glorified through my life. |
| PROMISE: | "...known beforehand to our fathers, that, with sure knowledge of the oaths in which they put their faith, they might have courage." –Wis 18:6 |
| PRAISE: | The risen Jesus is our hope. "That is why we read: 'Awake, O sleeper, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light' " (Eph 5:14). |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College