Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 3rd Week of Advent: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 40 and 54; Evening, Psalm 51;
Isaiah 10:5 to19; 2nd Peter 2:17 to 22; Matthew 11:2 to 15:
“They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for people are slaves to whatever masters them. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment that was passed on to them.” (2nd Peter 2:19 to 21)
I think most of us truly are slaves to whatever masters us. What masters us today is varied. Some of us are mastered by the calendar, some by information technology and social media, some by a lover, some by the desire to achieve or maintain power, and even some by a false sense of divine call to judge and condemn others. If we are to be true Christians, the only Master we should have is our Lord Jesus and His call on our lives. We should be empting ourselves in order to let him enter us and continue His works here on earth.
Adults should be seen praying, going to church, performing acts of charity and so forth, all in the Name of our Lord Jesus. That’s a big difference. When we as adults live out our faith heritage by prayer and practice we show who our Master is. Young folks and others are always watching us. We teach by prayer and practice. We also pray that we don’t fall away from sacred practices. It truly is harder to come back, but it is definitely possible.
We don’t master our Lord Jesus or dismiss Him as we mature: we surrender to him. He masters us and we find pleasure and delight to do His will, always.
Today we remember Katharina Von Bora, Church Reformer (1552), and her information may be found at: Katharina von Bora.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia; Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You are the only True Way of Righteousness. Teach us and hold us, we pray, in Your Ways of Righteousness and never let us go. Help us to always cling to the Holy Commandment to love You and to love one another as long as we live. Amen.
onewhoponders 