Grandmother’s Prayer for September 23rd

Father, Your Word says I am accepted in the Beloved. Those two words—accepted in—have done me more good than most of the books I have read over the years. The acceptance is not about me. It is about my being in Christ. He is the Beloved. I am in Him. And because I am in Him, I am accepted—not by what I have done, but by what You have done. Lord, the temptation in old age is to keep checking whether I am still acceptable to You. Is my prayer life good enough? Is my obedience steady enough? Is my heart pure enough? But the verse cuts under that worry. I am not accepted by my own merit. I am accepted because I am in Christ. That was settled at the cross. Lord Jesus, let me rest in that this morning. I do not have to earn today's acceptance. It was settled before the day began. The work You ask of me today is not earning anything. It is living out of what is already mine. Accepted in the Beloved. Take that into the morning's small worries. Take it into the afternoon's small disappointments. Take it into the evening's small fatigue. Accepted. Already. Forever. That is enough for today. Amen.