Day 8: Monday {12/6/10}

Workout Routine for today---

- 5 minute warm-up (walk, stretch)
-30 minutes on the elliptical at a brisk pace
-free-weight routine combining upper and lower body (squats, calf raises, bench press, shoulder circuit, bicep curls, tricep extensions and abs...8-10 reps on each)
-5 minute cool-down (walk, stretch)

Spiritual Reflections for today---

WOW!

Today's reading from One Incredible Moment is deep.

I am not even sure I can do it justice.

Basically, an Author (God) sits down to blank pages to create his masterpiece.

He writes 3 words-

TIME.

"Time did not exist until he wrote it. He, himself, is timeless, but his story would be encased in time. The story would have a first rising of the sun, a first shifting of the sand. A beginning...and an end. A final chapter. He knows it before he writes it."

ADAM.

"Each Adam. Each child. Instantly loved. Permanently loved. To each he assigns a time. To each he appoints a place. No accidents. No coincidences. Just design."

It goes on to say that the Author begins each life story but that he leaves an open-ending so that each life can write its own ending.

Yes, it would have been safer to finish each story but it would not have been love.

Because, "love is only love if chosen."

EMMANUEL.

"God with us."

"The Author enters his own story."

He too had a choice.

"He chooses life, though it means death, in hopes that his children would do the same."

"And so the Author of Life completes the story. He drives the spike in the flesh and rolls the stone over the grave. Knowing the choice he will make, knowing the choice all Adams will make, he pens, The End, then closes the book and proclaims the beginning."

"Let there be light!"

Prayer for today---

Lord, I could never praise you enough for that word Emmanuel, God with us. What a beautiful reality. To serve a God who would give up the kingdom of Heaven so that I have the choice to spend eternity with him is an overwhelming privilege. Help me to never take it for granted. I pray that my life story will bring glory to your name alone. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice of love. Amen.