Today's daily lesson comes from the old and familiar words of the 23rd Psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Sometime ago I was talking to an old pastor and I asked him about what he did when somebody had come to the final days of their life. He told me that if there was one thing he would change about the way he did ministry at the end of life he would seek to be more of a "priest".
Now I consider this guy to have been one of the finest Baptist pastors I've ever known, but his word "priest" surprised me. When I asked him to explain, he said what he meant was if he could go back be would do less informal visiting and instead seek to do more traditionally ritualistic things like hear confession, pray the Lord's Prayer, and recite the 23rd Psalm.
"In my old age I've discovered those things are a lot more important and a lot more meaningful than just visiting," he said.
It was a good reminder that the words which bring the greatest peace and comfort at the end of life aren't my words -- they're the LORD's.
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