Our Daily Bread -- This Is the Day

April 14, 2016

Read: Psalm 118:19-29
Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 25-26; Luke 12:32-59

This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. —nkjv —Psalm 118:24

In 1940, Dr. Virginia Connally, age 27, braved opposition and criticism to become the first female physician in Abilene, Texas. A few months before her 100th birthday in 2012, the Texas Medical Association presented her with its Distinguished Service Award, Texas’ highest physician honor. Between those two landmark events, Dr. Connally has enthusiastically embraced a passion for spreading the gospel around the world through her many medical mission trips while living a life of service to God and to others—one day at a time.

Dr. Connally’s pastor, Phil Christopher, said, “Every day for her is a gift.” He recalled a letter in which she wrote, “Every tour, trip, effort, I wonder if this will be my last and ultimate? Only God knows. And this is enough.”

The psalmist wrote, “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24 nkjv). So often we focus on the disappointments of yesterday or the uncertainties of tomorrow and miss God’s matchless gift to us: Today!

Dr. Connally said of her journey with Christ, “As you live a life of faith, you’re not looking for the results. I was just doing the things that God planted in my life and heart.”

God made today. Let’s celebrate it and make the most of every opportunity to serve others in His name. —David McCasland

Lord, thank You for today. May I embrace it as Your gift, celebrate Your faithfulness, and live this day fully for You.

Welcome each day as a gift from God.

INSIGHT: The unnamed psalmist of Psalm 118 tells of God’s rescue in response to his cry for help (vv. 5-16). Because of the rescue theme of this psalm, the Jews often sang it after their Passover meal, which commemorated their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. It is possible that Jesus and His disciples sang this thanksgiving song after the Last Supper (Matt. 26:30). Psalm 118:22 is quoted or alluded to in Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20-22, and 1 Peter 2:7. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowds shouted the words of Psalm 118:25-26, proclaiming Jesus as their Messiah and Deliverer (Matt. 21:9). Sim Kay Tee

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