Today's daily devotion

The Mundane

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.—1 JOHN 3:18–20 NIV

How many times must he ring that annoying bell? Having collapsed in a chair for a long-overdue lunch, Josie wondered if she could continue to provide care for her husband. She was weary to the bone of the stale bedroom, the countless pills, the irritability, and the personality-altering pain. The vow “in sickness and in health” was so much easier in the early years.

Mundane tasks grated Josie the most: clock-watching for the next round of medicine, listening to the details of just where it hurt, holding the straw, and positioning his body “just right.” His world was so small and self-focused.

Her growing callousness haunted her. This was her beloved! They’d laughed, loved, and sacrificed for each other for so long. Why was it so hard to care for him day in and day out?

God understands such feelings through the caring for His beloved. We ring “bells” for His help countless times. He deals with small-minded, self-focused loved ones day in and day out. He understands!

And He definitely hears our cries for help. All your actions, however mundane, are noticed by your heavenly Caregiver. And He’s eager to help.

Father, please give me the kind of self-sacrificing love that You showed in sending Jesus to the cross. May I share that kind of compassion with my loved one.

Adapted from

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