Day by Day

Back in the 70's the hippy generation produced a musical, Godspell, a highly stylized version of Matthew's Gospel. Flower child Jesus. Jesus with an afro, with a Superman shirt. Jesus crucified on a fence. All sorts of blasphemy. Well, of course, all good Christians disdained it. Okay, whatever. One thing that came out of that little item was a little song you may have heard: Day by Day. It's a pretty simple song. One verse, really. Not a lot there.

Day by day, oh, dear Lord, three things I pray
To see Thee more clearly
Love Thee more dearly
Follow Thee more nearly, day by day

In typical contemporary praise song fashion, it's a "7-11"--seven words repeated 11 times. Okay, not entirely accurate, but you get the idea. Not meaty theology. Not deep doctrine. Not a real thinker. Still ...

It is perhaps the best possible prayer you or I could pray. To see Him more clearly. To know Him better and better, not on a merely intellectual basis, but on a personal basis. A genuine relationship. Not know about Him, but know Him. Like Moses's "Please, show me Your glory." (Exo 33:18). Because nothing changes your life like a close encounter with God.

There, at His feet, we begin to see His greatness and our smallness and, apparently a universal response, our sin. Bad, at first, but remember, he who is forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:47). And, trust me, when you get a better look at God, you find you are forgiven much. And the more you look, the more you love, until all the other loves of this world are meaningless in comparison.

And then, you find a change in actions and attitudes. Loving God precedes obedience, but obedience follows necessarily (John 14:15). A natural product of loving God. And every true believer wants to obey God (1 John 3:9).

So, no, not a particularly beefy little tune. But, oh, if we could pray that, make it our heart's cry, seek Him continually for that little request, oh what a difference it would make.