Wednesday February 3, 2021

In the busyness of our everyday lives, we often fail to prepare our hearts and minds for reading God’s word and experience God in this time. Take a moment to allow this prayer to lead you into your time with God today.

As I enter into this time of prayer and reflection, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-center my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Holy and loving God, in this new season I invite you to shape my soul with your words and inspire my life with your works. Teach me to walk in the way of peace and grace. AMEN.

1 Timothy 1:5-7

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turn to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

It seems that the church Paul was writing to, the people the Bible is addressing, were getting distracted from the main point of following Christ.  The church was getting so involved in details, and many of those details they had created were wrong, missed the point, and led people away of God rather than toward. 
 
It is easy to get distracted from the main thing. Our world is a thousand times more complex than the first century world. The world-wide Christian church may be even more complicated.  Verse 5 points us the right way:
 
A pure heart
A good conscience
A sincere faith
 
I played softball for many years. When it came time to swing there was one central key – keep your eye on the ball. If I wanted to hit the ball, there was no other option. If I want to live the Christian life, experience the fruits, and enjoy the peace, I must stay focused on what’s important.  Today, think about the state of your heart. If it is pure.
 
Take a look at your heart, at your soul.  How is it with your soul? Do you need to confess anything to God?  Do you need to forgive, be forgiven, accept forgiveness?  Does your conscience need to be washed, cleansed, refreshed?  Do you need to turn your eyes away from what you see around you and turn your faith on what you can’t see, the God that loves, calls, and is with us?
 
“Turn you eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of Hs glory and grace.”

Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You, in every way.

Amen.

*Our opening and closing prayers are adapted from Lectio 365, a mobile application developed by the 24-7 Prayer Network. To find out more about this resource, visit this link..