We are all aware that one of the functions of a calendar is to divide time neatly into units of years, months, weeks and days, and many of us think that this is all that calendars do. This is shortsighted. The truth is that every calendar performs a secondary, more significant function. They tell us who we are.

It’s easy for us to think that our toils amount to nothing more than the imprint of a wave on sand that is erased by the next surge. Not so, says Paul. Keep your eyes on heaven and you will see the divine eye overlooks no act of charity or kindness. Our works of service are more durable than the stars in the sky.

I must have been only seven or eight years old when my grandmother, who had become a Christian a few years earlier, told me in a very serious fashion that the Bible is not effective if it is closed. The Bible only works if it is kept open, she said.