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:
“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 has seen someone do right, and be a better person, then, he too could aim for that, knowing it is possible.
We don’t all have the same level of good judgment all the 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 to us than “my” thing. Getting even is not the right thing and it is not parallel 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 shortcomings of others.
Our Lord Jesus is the perfect Plumb-line. We can’t be Him but we can continue to work towards His perfection. In trying to perfect our character we become that plumb-line for someone else to see and 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 nor return from. We will just keep comparing ourselves to His Perfection, that Plumb-line, that some may not know even exist.
Today our Church remembers Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon and Manb of Prayer (December 1637) and his information May be found at: Nicholas Ferrar.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and to teach others to love and to serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: For Guidance (BCP p. 832)
O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light riseth up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what thou wouldest have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in thy light we may see light, and in thy straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 