Focus

Experience silence in the midst of your busy day. Take some time to relax into a time to be with God.

Read

Reflect

How do you use the Bible? Is it “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth?” Is it a rule book to be meticulously followed, like the Pharisees used it? Is it a love letter from God, detailing his great love for the world? Is it a collection of stories that document humanity’s search for God?

In Christianity, you will find someone who believes in all these above options. The truth is that Scripture is all of these things. In the Bible we find instruction for living, we find rules about how we are to live in the world, we read of God’s love for the world in Jesus Christ, and in the scriptures we see people like the Ethiopian Eunuch who is searching for hard the truth.

Ultimately, however, the purpose of scripture is that we love God and one another. Sure there are some details in there that we must follow and we must give attention to, but even when we use the Bible for instruction with ourselves and with others, it must be for love. This is one thing the Pharisees lacked. Love. They came to Jesus, using scripture as a test or a trap. They did not love him, they did not want to be taught. They wanted to be proved right.

As we move forward as a denomination, let us be careful that we use the scripture as a tool to help us love God and love others, even when we get to a point of disagreement. We surely do not have to abandon our understandings, but we must love. 

Pray

God of grace, help us to be loving and humble, also give us the wisdom of Your Spirit so that we might be a non-anxious presence in our communities. Amen