The Present

“ And as I close my eyes to sleep,
Lord, I pray, my soul You’ll keep…”

A little child’s bedtime prayer; yet there is still much wisdom in this prayer. Each night, when we fall asleep, we do not know, that we will wake up ever again. We are so used to getting up in the morning , that we think nothing of it.

It is not always remembered that God breathed into Man, his first breath, thereby making him alive. Life-giving breath is given by the LORD. If He stops giving, we simply will expire our last breath. Is it not strange, that people expire and at some point permanently !

… Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. (Psa 104:29)

So here we are, alive and breathing, in the present. Curiously the word “present” can also mean “a gift”. It can also mean “existing as in a physical presence”. One could wonder if one’s physical existence and presence is inherently also a gift. If so, our daily existence in being alive each morning, would be a thing to treasure and not something to be careless about. A lack of purpose or direction would be a shame. Our days would not be without a thing to do.

Romans 12:1 has a separate interpretation of the word “present”. Whilst the word could mean making a gift, it also describes volition, a tasking, and a command.

We are left to contemplate; what our “present” means. Surely getting up the next morning would not be quite so perfunctory again. Our lives are bequeathed to us with purpose. It is filled with teeming possibilities for His glory. May He live His life in us.


I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom 12:1)

And so we will pray, the little child’s prayer; for another day to live, for His glory.

God bless.



/ckh