Today's Readings: New Testament -
Matthew 22:15-33
James 2:1-13
Old Testament -
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
Jeremiah 7-9
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses:
Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Insight:
All of us experience the ebb and flow of life, the constant turning of the seasons. Our own time and experience seem small and insignificant when we think of the countless people who have preceded us, and imagine the ongoing succession of generations yet to come. It's with good reason that we feel like little specks on the giant timetable of human history.
Deep inside we have a sense of the infinite and eternal, but the vastness of the human experience on planet earth is simply too much for us to fathom. We find ourselves overwhelmed by big questions like, "Where did it all come from?" and "Why is it all here?" and "Where will it all end?"
It doesn't take long to reach the boundaries of our reason and knowledge. And when we do, these mysteries point us to God or lead us to despair. Only God knows and sees beyond our limitations. Only what God does endures forever. And only God can give us the gift of good and satisfying lives.
Response & Action:
While I enjoy learning and the joy of discovery, I must be realistic about the limitations of what I can and cannot know. I will be realistic about things beyond the scope of human reason and verification, and let this realization point me to my need for faith in God. I will look to Christ Jesus and the written words of Scripture to guide me in my quest for God.
O God, you are before all things and you are beyond all things. Your truth and your wisdom are too wonderful for me to understand. You boggle my mind! I cannot even fully comprehend myself; how can I even begin to know you? Thank you for reaching down to me, for showing yourself to me through Jesus, and for inviting me to live in relationship with you as your child. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Psalm 131:1-3
1 My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore.
Resources:
Embracing the Mysterious God
by James Emery White
