(Devotion by Graeme Harrison)
Prayer: Grant us that which pleases you
Grant us, O God,
to know that which is worth knowing,
to love that which is worth loving,
to praise that which can bear praising,
to hate what in your sight is unworthy,
to prize what to you is precious,
and, above all, to search out and to do
that which pleases you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thomas à Kempis, 1380-1471
(Sourced from A Treasury of Prayers in Uniting in Worship, copyright 1988 Uniting Church in Australia)
Read:
Luke 24:36-42. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
(Lk 24:36-42 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Christians have had a love/hate relationship with our own bodies over the last 1500 years. It is because a lot of human sin begins with not restraining our bodily appetites. Lust, greed, gluttony, hedonism all begin with bodily urges. Thes sins are often called ‘sins of the flesh’ which gives the impression that it is our body itself that is the problem. But the Scriptural witness is clear that our bodies and our appetites are all part of God’s good design. When operating within the “designer’s” instructions our bodies bring us rich and wonderful blessings from God. The smell of fresh baked bread, the feel of satin, the taste of chocolate, the sight of a glorious sunrise and the sound of the magpie song. When sin is put in its place, bodily existence can be glorious and wonderful.
For some, they find it difficult to think that Jesus rose bodily from the dead. It violates a sense of scientific normality about the world. For others they find it difficult because they think that our bodies are the enemy that battle against our spirit. How could the heavenly Jesus have one of these weak fleshly bodies? But it is vital that Jesus did rise in his body. By this God is saying to us that bodies are good; good enough for the very presence of God to dwell in.
Jesus conveys this to them in one simple act; he ate some fish. I hope Jesus found it delicious.
Your body is precious to God. Don’t hate it, don’t abuse it, value it and thank God for every good thing you have experienced through it.