Loading more...
Ears to Hear: A Litany for Listening One to the Other
I am a person of strong conviction and intense moral righteousness. I have a lot of Read More
Ruth L. Boling | Read Joshua 24:1-3, 14-25
Lifted out of context, this passage depicts God as punishingly harsh, demanding and uncompromising. “He is a jealous God,” Joshua says. “He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you,...
Holy God, I choose you. I choose you. I choose you. May my loyalty to you intertwine with your abundant mercy to bless the world, here and now. Amen.
On a “Now” clock, the word “now” is repeated around the perimeter where numbers would normally be. As the clock hands rotate throughout the day, the time is always “now.” Each passage this week emerges from a particular “now” moment in God’s story. In Joshua, the Israelites must choose whom they will serve. For the psalmist, the time has come to tell the story of God’s faithfulness in the past to encourage us in the present. Paul assuages the Thessalonians’ concerns and reminds them to encourage one another. Jesus’ parable teaches that his return will be unexpected, so we should always be ready. Like the hands on a “Now” clock, each passage points to the present moment, summoning us to mindful, wholehearted, unwaveringly joyful service to God and neighbor, now.
Read Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25. What gets more attention in churches today, belief or service?
Read Psalm 78:1-7. Try writing a psalm or prayer about God’s faithfulness to you despite your failures and shortcomings.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Paul’s description of Christ’s return is meant to be encouraging. Do you find it so? Why or why not?
Read Matthew 25:1-13. Who do you identify with in this story? What challenges you? How would this parable read differently if the gender roles were reversed?
Respond by posting a prayer.
