Daily Devotional: Thursday, April 9, 2026

Year A | Easter Season

Today’s Readings

From the Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary

• Psalm 16: A prayer of trust and the "path of life."
• Song of Solomon 2:8–15: The arrival of the beloved and the end of winter.
• Colossians 4:2–5: A call to prayer, alertness, and wise living.

Reflection: "Come Away, The Winter Is Past"

There is a voice calling from just outside the window.

In the Song of Solomon, the beloved is found indoors, tucked behind a wall, peering through a lattice. Then, someone arrives! Not walking, but leaping! Bounding over mountains and skipping over hills with an urgency that ignores every obstacle. The voice calls: "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. For look, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone."

Many of us recognize the comfort of that "lattice window." Life has a way of teaching us to stay put. When we are hurt, we close up. When a venture fails, we pull back. Grief, disappointment, and exhaustion don't always knock us down; often, they simply make us cautious. We begin to watch life through the safety of the lattice instead of walking through the door. We tell ourselves we will re-engage when conditions improve, when we feel "ready," or when we have something better to offer.

But the Beloved does not wait for perfect conditions. In this Easter season, we encounter the Risen Christ who leaps over the very obstacles we thought would keep Him away. He appears precisely where we have been hiding. His message isn't a critique of our hesitation; it is a gentle, intimate invitation: My love. My fair one. Come away.

This is the essence of resurrection. The "winter" the Song speaks of—the cold, the rain, the season of being shut-in—represents more than just weather. It is the winter of grief, the winter of estrangement, or the winter of a faith that dried up during a crisis. The resurrection declares that this winter is not just ending; it is past! The flowers are already appearing; the time for singing has arrived.

Living in this reality requires a specific posture. The Psalmist writes, "I keep the Lord always before me... therefore my heart is glad." This "keeping" is a conscious choice, a daily discipline of positioning ourselves in the presence of the One who shows the path of life. It is there, in that intentional space, that joy becomes "full."

The Apostle Paul grounds this spiritual awakening in the practicalities of daily living. He urges us to "devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving." To be alert is to realize that the Beloved is already moving. He may be calling through a conversation you almost avoided, a door that opened unexpectedly, or a moment of stillness that cracked open a new perspective. Paul calls this "making the most of the time," redeeming the moments that fear or stagnation tried to steal.

The rain has stopped. The door is open. Today is the day to step out from behind the lattice and into the light of the new season.

Prayer

Lord, You come to us even when we are hiding, even when we have forgotten to look toward the window. Thank you for your call. It is an invitation rather than an accusation. Help us to hear Your voice leaping over the mountains we thought stood between us and You. Make us alert to Your presence in the ordinary hours of this day. Teach us to keep You before us, and in doing so, to find the fullness of joy You promise. Amen.

Questions for Reflection

1. Where is your "lattice window" right now? What part of life are you currently watching from a distance rather than stepping into?
2. What would it mean to "devote yourself to prayer" today, not as a chore, but as a way of staying alert to God’s movements?
3. Is there someone in your life who is currently "hiding" behind a wall? How might you offer them a word of invitation or connection today?

Artwork: "Song of Solomon - 'Arise my love ... and come away...'"
Artist: Cláudio Pastro (Petrópolis, Brazil)