We’ve been on a break this week. Although retired, my hubby and I often feel busier than when we weren’t retired, but we still can steal away for a few days if we really want to. Being in the beautiful outdoors has been refreshing and I’ve taken some time to just enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.

This morning, I read from the prophet Jeremiah some sobering words:

Let us examine our ways and test them,
and let us return to the Lord (Lam. 3:40).

“Okay, Lord, what do I need to check?” I prayed. I read on in the New Testament:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Here’s what the footnote in the Bible I’m using says, “test the attitude of the heart.” Sometimes my attitude isn’t conducive to listening to my heart–the Holy Spirit within me.

I’ve been reading the past month about aging. In this book, the author reminds us how we often buzz through our Bible reading quickly–whether we are reading through the Bible, or studying a certain portion of it. Often I do the what she addressed: read a certain portion of scripture usually in the morning, and then go about my day. The book, Aging Faithfully: The Holy Invitation of Growing Older by Alice Fryling, suggests another way. Slow down and meditate on a smaller portion of scripture, and then ask God to speak. Not just a quick prayer–meditate and listen to him. We stop and wait. To listen.

This Saturday morning, I read a passage from the Book of Job 19:25-27. I’d like to use it as a prayer today:

I know that my Defender lives,
and in the end he will stand upon the earth.
Even after my skin has been destroyed,
in my flesh I will see God.
I will see him myself;
I will see him with my very own eyes.
How my heart wants that to happen!