A prayer for marriage This at last is bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. Genesis 2:22 Read Ephesians 5:21—33 In the next few moments I am going to engage in prayer for a marriage, the one closest to me. That will be my own if I am married. Or of my…
From the beginning: love one another For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Psalm 122:8 Read 1 John 3:11—18 My first reaction to this reading is that its language is quite graphic. I would almost say over the top. Just because I don’t love someone, am…
As I have loved you How very good and pleasant it is When kindred live together in unity! Psalm 133:1 Read John 15:9—17 In the Christian life the grammar of relationships is love. The verb underlying all verbs is love. Whatever other verb I need to use to describe my actions, that must be…
Love at the core I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever; With my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 89:1 Read Matthew 22:34—40 If I pull back the camera and look at this passage in the middle of what is said around it, it is as I…
The active life Happy if with my latest breath I may but gasp his name. Charles Wesley Read Hebrew 4:9—13 Tonight I am met with contrasting messages or images and I need to see where the word of the Lord to me lies. On the one hand I’m called toward rest. Sabbath rest. Which…
The world has been crucified to me But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, Says the Lord, your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8 Read Galatians 6:14—18 In these little phrases I feel that the world around me is almost robbed from me. It seems to disappear. It has been killed off. ‘The world…
Friend of sinners Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be like snow. Isaiah 1:18 Read Galatians 2:17—21 So let me sort this: I’ve been crucified. I’ve died. I’ve died with Christ. I’ve died, at least, to all my efforts to deserve God. My life with God has come to me, but it…
True worship That your way may be known upon earth, Your saving power among all nations. Psalm 67:2 Read Isaiah 1:10—17 Sometimes worship at my church can go very well. There are times when my own mood for worship can be a bit off, but, one way or another, one time or another, one…
Out of the heart I will study the way that is blameless. When shall I attain it? Psalm 101:2 Read Matthew 15:10—20 The point is to attend to my heart. The place to start would really be — no better place — a time like this, which I have set aside to be a…
The Lord of the Sabbath And on the seventh day God finished the work he had done, And rested on the seventh day. Genesis 2:2 Read Matthew 12:1—8 I think if I am one of those narrow-hearted nitpickers I really need to get right inside a scene like this one. Because, as narrow as…