Jesus, Living Water
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Image: Yosemite National Park, USA, Wayne McDonald
Prayer: Sea Tides
Let the love tide swelling
Surround me and my dwelling.
Let the power of the mighty sea
Flow in, Lord, and strengthen me.
Tide of Christ covering my shore
That I may live for evermore.
Whatever the tide
The Lord at my side,
In storm or in calm
To keep me from harm,
In good or in ill
He’s with me still.
(David Adam, Tides and Seasons, Prayers in the Celtic Tradition)
Read:
John 4:7-15 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Thought for the day:
Jesus and the woman are playing with the word “water” – sometimes meaning physical water, and sometimes what Jesus calls “living water”. What images and metaphors of water are most meaningful for you?
Like this unnamed marginalised woman, we say “Jesus, give me this living water.”
Proverbs: The Beginning of Wisdom
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: The love of God’s name
Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and in your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, 1662
Read:
Proverbs 9:7-10. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
7Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults;
whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.
8Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you;
rebuke the wise and they will love you.
9Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.
10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
(Proverbs 9:7-10 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
I can still remember the story of The Rainbow Fish. The Rainbow Fish loved his beautiful scales and wanted to be admired above all else. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make friends because the other fish detected his narcissism straight away. He was stumped and sad. How to proceed? So he went out in search of wisdom. Fortunately, someone knew someone and he found his wise woman. Sharing was the missing insight that led to a fuller life.
Proverbs knows where to find wisdom and begins with “fear” of the Lord. This strikes us as odd because we have discovered the centrality of the love of God through Jesus. What is there to fear? The original author did mean fear in the same way that you give some respect to a mother bear with cubs; not dangerous until you threaten someone she loves. Then justice and protection for the oppressed are found in the once hidden claws, teeth, and powerful muscles. Show some respect!
In the same way, the creator of the universe is not some Santa Claus in the sky but is powerful beyond our understanding. Does God not require respect and awe as well as love?
Jesus, Bread of Life
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: Waiting for bread
Move us this day beyond our fears and anxieties
into your land of goodness.
Our hopes are filled with promises of
well-being, justice, and mercy.
We wait for your coming,
we pray for your kingdom.
In the meantime, give us bread for the day.
(Walter Brueggemann, Prayers for a Privileged People)
Read:
John 6:32-35 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Thought for the day:
This passage follows the account of Jesus feeding a crowd of people with bread. There was plenty to eat, and plenty left over. On that occasion, Jesus provided physical bread. Now, Jesus has changed to talking metaphorically about spiritual bread. Just as physical bread nourishes our bodies, so spiritual bread nourishes our spirit and gives us life. When we are close to Jesus, our spiritual life is nourished.
Like the crowd, we say “Jesus, always give us this bread.”
Holy God
(Devotion edited by Ros McDonald)
Image: Glory, East Macdonnell Range, NT, Wayne McDonald
Prayer: You are God!
God, You are God!
The Splendour we cannot imagine,
the Wisdom we cannot contain,
The Power we cannot manipulate,
the Love we cannot buy.
God, you are God!
And we will worship and serve you all our days.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Adapted from Jesus our Future, Bruce Prewer, 1998)
Read:
Revelation 4: 8b, 11 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come.
You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honour and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.
Thought for the day:
Often it’s hard to hold together the many aspects of our wonderful God; to balance the friend we have in Jesus with the holiness and majesty of God Almighty.
Today, concentrate on the holiness of God.
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Proverbs, Wisdom inbuilt into Creation
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have said that you are the Way,
the Truth and the Life:
do not let us at any time stray from you,
for you are our Way;
or ever distrust your promises,
for you are our Truth;
or ever rest in anything other than you,
for you are our Life.
Lord Jesus,
you have taught us
what to believe,
what to do,
what to hope for,
and in whom to take our rest. Amen.
Erasmus, 1466-1536
Read:
Proverbs 8:22-36. Our passage continues the speech of Wisdom idealise as a woman. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
22“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
23I was formed long ages ago,
at the very beginning when the world came to be.
24When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
when there were no springs overflowing with water;
25before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
26before he made the world or its fields
or any of the dust of the earth.
27I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
30Then I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
31rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind.
32“Now then, my children, listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
33Listen to my instruction and be wise;
do not disregard it.
34Blessed are those who listen to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
35For those who find me find life
.
36But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
all who hate me love death.”
(Proverbs 8:22-36 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Wisdom is not seen as a human construct or a culturally specific thing. Instead, it is located in the way God created this world. Because the world operates according to certain rules that God laid out in the beginning certain contemporary behaviours and attitudes will match that pattern and some will contradict. In other words, wisdom is not random.
For instance, honesty and love bring well-being to human society while deception and selfishness do not because that is how God made us to be.
Yet wisdom can only be seen embodied in a local culture (v.34). What love looks like in Egyptian culture will have an Egyptian take, and what it looks like in Samoa will have a Samoan take, and so on …
In John’s Gospel, he uses the Greek word “logos” or in English “Word” to describe this same Wisdom through which God made all things. Wisdom is God. Paul, also, sees Jesus as God’s wisdom incarnate 1 Corinthians 1:22-25. The connection between the creation and Christ’s call to follow him and his wisdom is now clearer. This wisdom is True to nature, so to speak.
“Blessed are those who listen to me.”
Proverbs. Wisdom, She Calls
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: For enlightenment of the mind
Enlighten us, O good Jesus,
with the brightness of internal light,
and cast out all darkness
from the dwelling of our hearts.
Grant us, O Lord,
to know that which is worth knowing,
to love what is worth loving,
to praise that which can bear with praise,
to hate what in your sight is unworthy,
to prize what to you is precious,
and above all,
to search out and do your holy will. Amen.
Thomas à Kempis,1380-1471
Read:
Proverbs 8:1-11. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
1Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2At the highest point along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3beside the gate leading into the city,
at the entrance, she cries aloud:
4“To you, O people, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.
5You who are simple, gain prudence;
you who are foolish, set your hearts on it.
6Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.
7My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.
8All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.
9To the discerning all of them are right;
they are upright to those who have found knowledge.
10Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
11for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.”
(Proverbs 8:1-11 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
It is striking that in a patriarchal age, wisdom is epitomised by a woman. Our previous seven chapters depicted a father counselling his son and was focussed on the male’s role in ancient Israelite society.
What is clear from our passage is that the author found it perfectly natural to think a woman could represent everything wise, insightful and good about God. Part of the wisdom to come from this passage is that insight. How does society depict men and women? What roles are we typically assigned that we just don’t like? God is a redeemer and is perfectly able to redeem our self-image as a woman or a man from the stereotypes the world conforms us to. Proverbs sees these ways of thinking in competition with each other and continually challenges the reader to choose.
The key is found in God’s wisdom replacing society’s role models and conventions. Are you ready to be wise?
Proverbs, Wisdom and Scheming
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: For forgiveness and strength
Almighty and merciful God,
the fountain of all goodness,
you know the thoughts of our hearts:
we confess that we have sinned against you
and done what is evil in your sight.
Wash us from the stains of our past sins,
and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things,
so that being delivered from the bondage of sin,
we may bring forth fruits worthy of repentance.
O eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
O eternal Power, give us your strength;
eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance;
O eternal Pity, have mercy on us.
Grant that with all our hearts, and minds, and strength
we may always seek your face;
and finally, in your infinite mercy,
bring us to your holy presence.
So strengthen our weakness
that, following in the footsteps of your blessed Son,
we may obtain your mercy,
and enter into your promised joy. Amen.
Alcuin, 735-804
Read:
Proverbs 6:16-19. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
16 There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
(Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
One wonders whether a person who would do these things would be reading the Bible to begin with. Yet the Old Testament writers saw themselves sharing the wisdom of God in order to guide a whole nation not just the spiritually inclined.
In this instance, it refers to a person who has influence. Even today a person may profess themselves to be a Christian and lead the largest secular Christian nation in the world and still do these sorts of things.
A person may achieve this massive contradiction in their lives by segmenting parts of life from other parts. One church goer openly confessed to legal but unethical business practices by saying that different morals apply to business and private life. This was a dramatic example, but I have found that most of us live double lives and behave differently (not necessarily badly) in each depending on the setting we are in; work, social club, home, talking politics, family, church, etc.
This passage may have something to say to us in some part of our lives that we have not allowed God to influence. Do not be too quick to dismiss this Proverb. Sit with it and see if God has something to say about one or more areas of your life.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
Proverbs, Wisdom and Adultery
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: A prayer for mercy
Look upon me in compassion, O God,
with your merciful eyes
and accept my fervent confession.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Instead of freedom from possessions, O Saviour,
I have pursued a life in love with material things;
and now I bear a heavy burden.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me.
Lord, you love humankind and desire that all should be saved.
In your goodness call me back and accept me in repentance.
Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me. Amen.
Excerpt from the Second Canticle,
the Great Canon by St Andrew
Read:
Proverbs 5:1-11, 21-22. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words of insight,
2that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
5Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
6She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.
7Now then, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn aside from what I say.
8Keep to a path far from her,
do not go near the door of her house,
9lest you lose your honour to others
and your dignity to one who is cruel,
10lest strangers feast on your wealth
and your toil enrich the house of another.
11At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent. …
21For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
and he examines all your paths.
22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
the cords of their sins hold them fast.
(Proverbs 5:1-11, 21-22 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
A series on Proverbs would not be complete without pausing to reflect on sexual sin. Again, it is plainly gendered as befits the culture of its time. Again, it is the woman’s role to be the temptress for the poor struggling male. If it were not for the fact that writer of this part of Proverbs casts God’s wisdom as a woman in chapter 4:6-9, 3:13-21 we would have wondered whether he had a positive view of women.
Nevertheless, sexual sin as lack of self-discipline appears a number of times in Proverbs and in our world today. What may we learn here as men and women whose problems are not identical to those times but do have some overlap points?
Plainly there is wisdom in being aware that short term gain with long term pain is not a good idea.
Verse 6 shows us that sometimes we are ignorant of our own aimless wandering in life which can lead us to dangerous places. Sexual sin is often not sought out but just stumbled upon. Later on, Proverbs will remind us of the need to surround ourselves with wise friends who can give us good insights about our thinking and choices.
Verse 8 gives us the insight that it is easier to resist temptation if you take early steps to keep away from it. If you are inappropriately attracted to someone, it would be wise to choose never to be alone with them.
Verses 9-11 point out that negative consequences follow a bad choice like winter follows autumn. In Christ, we will be forgiven when we repent but that does not prevent other appalling losses of respect, broken relationships, and trust. To obey God in the first place is the best option and certainly the one advocated by Proverbs.
If you are in the middle of temptation right now there is wisdom here for you. Take it to heart as you turn back toward the God who loves you.
Proverbs, Wisdom and Body
(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER: Here I am, Lord
Here I am, Lord –
body, heart, and soul.
Grant that with your love,
I may be big enough
to reach the world,
and small enough
to be at one with you. Amen.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997
Read:
Proverbs 4:20-27. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
(Proverbs 4:20-27 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Our lives really are built around our bodies for good or ill. Where did your eyes linger in this passage? With what body part was it associated? For me I am very aware of “guard your heart” because we live in a society that is very passionate about our right to watch/read/listen to anything we choose but almost wholly ignorant of the impact of such things on our hearts and relationships. “Everything you do flows from it(the heart)”.
All of us take some steps to protect ourselves. There is often a line that we will not cross. But have you taken some time to wonder whether that line is set in the best place? How would you make that decision? Proverbs suggests that such decisions can be based on wisdom rather than anxiety or fear. With what wisdom do you “guard your heart”?