Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Epiphany: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 119:145 to 176; Evening, Psalms 128, 129 and 130;
Proverbs 6:1 to 19; 1st John 5:1 to 12; John 11:45 to 54:
“My child, if you have given your pledge to your neighbor, if you have bound yourself to another,
you are snared by the utterance of your lips, caught by the words of your mouth.” (Proverbs 6:1 and 2)
After some years of regret, I have learned to be quiet when commitment time comes. Too often I have pledged to do something without checking my calendar only to find that I have already agreed to something else at that same time. I have snared myself by the utterance of my lips.
Sometimes it is not a matter of dates. It is a matter of change of heart or what I believe. This can range from political beliefs, religious beliefs and even personal relationships and the drifting apart that takes place as we evolve.
With early commitments should we ignore our new understandings only to keep words said in ignorance or immaturity? I think not. However, why should anyone bother to listen to us if we show a history of not keeping our word. There comes a time when we each must evaluate our path and first be loyal to ourselves and the trajectory of God’s call on our lives. We must commit an unbreakable pledge to God that will never, never, never be broken. But this first begins with a commitment to always, always, always believe in God. It is only then that we will reduce being snared by the utterance of our lips.
Some broken commitments can be a simple mistake of time allocation. However some broken commitments come about as we mature in Christ and our place and responsibility in community. We must be open to being taught by the Holy One in order to not being snared by our lips.
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 