September 24, 2026 – Daily Devotional
John Wesley gave his early Methodists three simple rules: do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God. That third one sounds almost too soft for a rule until you realize what it’s actually protecting against — a faith that runs entirely on good moods and good parking.
You know the reflex. A parking spot opens up right by the door when you’re Christmas shopping: “Thank you, Lord!” Traffic backs up on the way to work, and suddenly it’s practically providence that you should detour through the drive-thru for a blueberry sausage biscuit: “Well, guess the Lord wants me to have breakfast today.” It’s not wrong to see God in small mercies — Wesley would want you to. But notice the pattern: God shows up mostly when God is useful. He gets credit for the parking spot and is conscripted for the pastry. That’s not a relationship. That’s a vending machine with a halo.
This is exactly the gap the third rule is built to close. The first two rules — do no harm, do good — are about behavior in the world. But behavior alone doesn’t keep you in love with anyone. You don’t stay married by simply not doing damage and occasionally being nice. You stay in love through steady, unglamorous attention: showing up, talking, listening, showing up again. Wesley knew love needs upkeep, so he pointed people toward the means of grace — worship, Scripture, prayer, the Lord’s Supper, fasting — practices aimed at God on purpose. Not favors requested. Not luck baptized after the fact. Just presence, practiced steadily, whether or not a good parking spot is involved.
Here’s the test worth sitting with: if the only times God comes up in your day are the lucky breaks and the convenient detours, that’s a God you’ve hired as a lifestyle consultant, not the One you’re in love with. Love that only speaks up when it’s getting something starts to look a lot like self-interest wearing a cross.
So, by all means, keep saying “Thank you, Lord” for the parking spot — gratitude in small things is a good and holy habit. But let it be joined to the bigger habit: staying in love. Open the Bible before you need an excuse for pancakes. Pray on the ordinary days, not just the gridlocked ones. Sit in a pew, or in silence, without an agenda item to submit.
The parking spot is real grace. Staying in love with the Giver is the whole point.
-Chris Lambert, Director, Meals on Wheels, Oklahoma City
