Daily Office Readings for Monday of the Second Week of Advent: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 25; Evening, Psalms 9 and 15;
Amos 7:1 to 9; Revelation 1:1 to 8; Matthew 22:23 to 33:
(Edited and republished from December 9, 2019)
“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘A plumb-line.’ Then the Lord said, ‘See, I am setting a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel;
I will never again pass them by.” (Amos 7:7 – 8)
This plumb-line that the lord is setting in the midst of us is the perfect upright angle with which we are to judge our own moral character. A friend of mine once said to a congregation that it was hard for him to achieve something he has not seen. But once he as seen someone do and be the better person, then, he too could aim for that, knowing it is possible.
We don’t all have the same level of good judgment at the same time. But I believe the ability to make better and better decisions is an evolving skill. I believe patience with our understanding helps us to be better decision makers. We must first want to do the right thing; the right thing has to be more important than “my” thing. Getting even is not the right thing and it is against the Lord’s plumb-line; it clearly shows us to be off kilter. Also, we should not try to make ourselves look good by pointing out the faults of others. It would be better to point out how we have challenges that we are aware of and are working on, than to point to the short comings of others.
Our Lord Jesus is the perfect Plumb-line. We can’t be Him but we can continue to work towards perfection. In trying to perfect our character we become that plumb-line for someone else to emulate. Remember however, we are not doing it to be copied (even though that would make the world a better place). We are working towards that never ending road to perfection from which we will not regress or return. We will just keep comparing ourselves to His Perfection, that Plumb-line, that some may not know even exist.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 