DAILY BYTE
We carry God’s name within our souls and we hallow God’s name by how we live.
Because the essence of who we are will always effect our environments. Who you are will always affect the space that you live in – you can make it sacred or you can profane it by your actions and choices.
Just a couple of silly examples. My car, or the space of my car, is greatly affected by who I am. While I am no neat freak (which my wife will gladly testify to), I also cannot handle papers or any mess lying around my car. I like my car to have certain spaces provided for my cell phone or to hold coffee mugs. So when I get into my car, I can think ‘Ah, this car bears my name.’
Or what about my office? I have to have my books ordered in a certain way and like certain things to be in certain places. My desk can be messy all week, but must be neat before I leave at the week’s end. So when I walk into my office on a Monday morning, I can think ‘Ah, this office bears my name, my essence.’
Or even my home. I walk in to find an easy chair positioned right in front of the TV, with both remote and newspaper in easy reach. There is a little tub of hot water right in front of the chair, all prepared with bath salts and ready for me to soak my feet in. There is a hot cup of coffee waiting for me on a nearby table. When I walk into this house, do you know what I think? ‘Ah, how embarrassing, I seem to have walked into the wrong house!’
This part of the Lord’s Prayer is challenging us to orient ourselves around the truth that the essence of who we are will affect our environments greatly. Homes, offices, relationships – wherever and whatever.
We are challenged to ask ourselves – do I carry God’s name with me into those environments? Are the qualities and character and essence of the God I know and love allowed to make the various spaces of my life sacred?
When we pray – ‘Hallowed by your name’ – we are praying that we would remember that the way of Jesus is the best possible way to live.
That being generous is a better way to live. That forgiving others and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live. That having compassion is a better way to live. That pursuing peace in every situation and yet relentlessly standing for justice is a better way to live. That engaging others in real relationships across our many diversities and differences is a better way to live. That prizing meaning and purpose over money and achievements is a better way to live.
That carrying the essence of Jesus, the character of God, the NAME of God into the various spaces of our lives is the ONLY way to live. That’s what we are praying for with this little throwaway, but oh so dangerous line in the Lord’s Prayer.
We hallow our lives and the spaces in which we exist, by living in a way that is consistent with everything that God’s name stands for.
What spaces in your life do you need to ‘hallow’ at this point in time?
PRAY AS YOU GO
Great and Loving God, we confess how often we don’t hallow your name within various parts of our lives. We ask that you would help us to reorient ourselves around the truth that we need to base our lives on everything that you represent. In Jesus name. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Psalm 10. 7-10 NIV
The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.
He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice.
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.
