Saturday, April 5

At the Center: Returning to the Daily Office

Rev. Brandon Blacksten

Reading

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
John 15:1–11

Reflection

Sometimes I need people to remind me of the basics.

I was struck as I read Robert Mulholland’s book The Deeper Journey:
“If we are to engage the deeper journey into Christlikeness, if we are to become more consistent in the integration of our personal and public intimacy with God, we must commit ourselves to a daily office.”

The daily office simply refers to “a daily disciplined time with God.” The term is more common in Catholic traditions. If you grew up in a more evangelical tradition, you may refer to it as quiet time or private devotion. Whatever you call it, this time with God is a keystone practice for those who follow Jesus.

Admittedly, though, it’s easy for me to push that time aside when things get busy, or to make it perfunctory when I’m stressed. Mulholland writes:
“When our daily office is merely one more task in an already busy schedule, it most likely will become simply another activity of our religious false self. We will have a daily office when it is convenient and perhaps let it become the first thing to be dropped out if our day is too busy.”

That hits a little too close to home.

He continues:
“If we are serious about the deeper journey, then we will have our daily office as the center of our life. All else will be ordered around this crucial time with God.”

Mulholland reminds me that the daily office is not just a chore to be accomplished. It’s not just something I do so that I (and others) will know I’m a good Christian boy. It’s the wellspring of my life—the center of my life with God, from which all good things flow. It’s the way we abide in Jesus.

This is not a matter of shame. It’s not that God is mad at us when we don’t keep a devotional time or when we just go through the motions. It’s simply something we deeply need.

In the same way that I need to move every day, and in the same way I need daily intentional time with Courtney and with my daughters, I have to have that time with God in order to be sustained by God and to become more fully the person God created me to be.

As you think about your practice of the daily office—your quiet time, your devotional time—is it something you get to when you can, or is it “the center of your life?”

What might it look like to move your time with God to become the center of your life?

This is likely not something new for you, but sometimes it helps to be reminded.

Prayer:
God of all things,
Of complexity and simplicity,
You invite me to abide in you.
Help me eliminate the obstacles
That keep me from abiding,
So that I might draw into union with you
For the sake of others.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Amen.