9th. January. 2021. Daily Devotion.
4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered round him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 ‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. Mark 4:1-3
Our lives are filled with distractions, and often we like it that way. Many of us also like background or white noise that can help to distract us from distractions! With all the noise that fills our environments, it can be hard to hear what we need to hear, and difficult to learn what we should focus on.
Jesus was a brilliant storyteller. He told stories from the life and culture of the time, and he filled them with meanings that were at once simple and profound. But unless you were able to truly listen, they were just stories.
Apart from God’s giving us the insight to understand, the result will be that Jesus’ parables are just stories, his miracles are just amazing, his crucifixion is just tragedy, and his resurrection is just whatever you make of it.
As a leader calls people to attention, Jesus, with the authority of the Son of God, urges us to listen in a world that seeks to distract us from the truth. He calls us to see through the obscuring fog of life, to filter out the noise in order to hear the voice of the good shepherd as he teaches us about ourselves and our lives. “Listen!” ~ Douglas MacLeod.
Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to listen to your voice and to hear what we need to know and to believe about ourselves and about you. May we look forward to hearing you speak to us. Amen.
For the Holy Spirit
Send, we beseech you, Almighty God, your Holy Spirit into our hearts, that he may direct and rule us according to your will, comfort us in all our afflictions, defend us from all error, and lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, world without end. Amen.
To Strive for Health
Oh Lord God, who has told us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that we should honour you with our bodies, I confess that I have not been doing as good a job as I might. Perhaps I sometimes eat and drink that which is not healthy, or in excess. Perhaps I do not get enough exercise; perhaps I do not get enough rest. Perhaps I allow the anxieties of the world to disturb my thoughts, which causes me physical stress. Perhaps I do things with my body that I know I should not do.
I pray that you will lead me to listen to the Holy Spirit, and not to my own urgings or those of the world, in matters of physical and mental health. Direct my eye, my ear, and my activities to holiness, that I might honour You the best I can, in my body and my mind. Amen.
Meditation
“Relying on God has to start all over every day, as if nothing has yet been done.” ~ C.S.Lewis
Christian Aid Coronavirus Prayer
God of heaven and earth,
in these times of isolation,
apart from loved ones
distant from friends
away from neighbours
thank you that there is nothing
in all of creation,
not even coronavirus,
that is able to separate us from your love.
And may your love that never fails
continue to be shared
through the kindness of strangers
looking out for each other,
for neighbours near and far
all recognising our shared vulnerability,
each of us grateful for every breath,
and willing everyone to know the gift
of a full and healthy life.
Keep us all in your care. Amen.
