Tuesday, April 04, 2006
From AscensionNYC
Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
Psalm 124, 125, 126
Exodus 5:1 - 6:1
1 Corinthians 14:20-33a, 39-40
Mark 9:42-50
I was grateful to have been asked to create a Lenten devotional this year. I always find it enlightening to search the texts -- both Old and New Testaments and the Psalter -- for a theme or thread that might guide me in my journey to follow Christ's example. I pray that some of you might actually find my search helpful as well.
From the texts for today -- April 4th, 2006 -- I have found that the lessons from both the New Testament and the Psalter are helpful in answering Pharaoh's question from Exodus 5. He asks: Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. I think one of our goals as Christians is to try each day to know the Lord better and to love Him more deeply in this new knowledge. Psalm 124 states clearly: Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15: For God is not the author of confusion but of peace. In the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 9, it is said: And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Each passage gives Pharaoh -- and each of us -- great insight into who God, the Father Almighty in whom we affirm to believe each Sunday, is: He is our Creator; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves. He is the source of our strength and of the peace that passeth all understanding. And He expects us to approach Him with the heart and mind of a child, with complete love and faith. Let us continue our journey today and throughout Lent toward a fuller understanding of the God who loves us and asks only that we seek to love Him and our neighbor in return. Thanks be to God!
Exodus 5:1 - 6:1
1 Corinthians 14:20-33a, 39-40
Mark 9:42-50
I was grateful to have been asked to create a Lenten devotional this year. I always find it enlightening to search the texts -- both Old and New Testaments and the Psalter -- for a theme or thread that might guide me in my journey to follow Christ's example. I pray that some of you might actually find my search helpful as well.
From the texts for today -- April 4th, 2006 -- I have found that the lessons from both the New Testament and the Psalter are helpful in answering Pharaoh's question from Exodus 5. He asks: Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. I think one of our goals as Christians is to try each day to know the Lord better and to love Him more deeply in this new knowledge. Psalm 124 states clearly: Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth. Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15: For God is not the author of confusion but of peace. In the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 9, it is said: And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Each passage gives Pharaoh -- and each of us -- great insight into who God, the Father Almighty in whom we affirm to believe each Sunday, is: He is our Creator; it is He that has made us and not we ourselves. He is the source of our strength and of the peace that passeth all understanding. And He expects us to approach Him with the heart and mind of a child, with complete love and faith. Let us continue our journey today and throughout Lent toward a fuller understanding of the God who loves us and asks only that we seek to love Him and our neighbor in return. Thanks be to God!
David Lehmann
