Reason to Rejoice

Today's poem was inspired in part by joy and in part by sorrow...Joy because God is compassionate and full of mercyPs.145:8-9The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,Slow to anger and great in mercy.The Lord is good to all,And His tender mercies are over all His works. ..and sorrow, because its easy to forgetand live self-indulgently, rather than with sacred urgency for all who do not know or believe Today's Scripture reading began with this verse; Heb.4:1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.(Read the whole solemn and comforting chapter ) A new day!What a gift of graceEvery day overflows with a fresh feast of highs and lows/thorn and rosewith no two days alike,inviting us, each morning to the sweet anticipation ofmoment buds unfolding reasons to rejoice! One sweet reason for me today is my Cherry-Chocolate Latte Hibiscus, blooming profusely!A birthday gift from a fellow flower-loving friend a few years ago.(isn't its name deliciously fitting?!!) For my debt of unuttered praise for grace and mercy, new againFor lack of awe for He whose ways transcend, yet tends Want’s pride-prone kenFor my oft apathetic love to He whose love none can descryTo the all-wise Creator of galaxies cupping earth and skyFor my debt of devotion paid to deities of carnal claimRather than to the One who made this day to glorify His name For a balance, when weighed, that tips in favor of this world, not HeWho pours the sand of time that slips through frames filled with eternityFor ambition and noble thought, not ordered by sweet hour of prayerFor good intentions, oft forgot in the furnace where passions flareFor turning blind eyes and deaf ears to my Saviour’s unfettered griefFor every precious soul that sneers at Calvary in unbelief For my debt of sin, unconfessed, for treasure held without a nodIn Your direction, richly blessed, yet thankless/trustless oft, forgive me, GodFor my debt of worship I owe, to God who forgives and forgetsI pray, may glad praise overflow; grace rends shackles forged from regretsWhere faith and fantasy compete, Today, Lord, help me hear your VoiceAs I lay my debt at Your feet, and rise with Reason to rejoice © Janet Martin