[Friday's Devotional] - The Lord's Prayer

Often when I pray the Lord’s prayer, I try and put it into my own words.  I find by doing that, it becomes more meaningful – words that are repeated too often can start to wash over you and lose their impact.

 

So here is my attempt – why not try it yourself?

 

Father God, thank you that you love me more than I will ever know.

You alone are God – help me to honour you above all things.

May your kingly reign come about in my life, in my family, in our church, in my work, my town, this nation and the whole earth.

May your heart become my heart, your concerns my concerns.  Help me to be obedient to what you call me to do.

Thank you for all your provision: for those who love me, for the beauty in nature around me and for my food and shelter. Help me to be nourished not only by them, but by your word that is Spirit and Life.

Thank you that I can walk through today knowing that I am forgiven by Jesus’ sacrifice for me.

Help me not to harbour grudges or bitterness against anyone.

May I be aware of you presence beside me through today. Give me wisdom to make good decisions and avoid ways that are harmful and not in your purposes.

All things are yours Lord. May I use what you give me to your glory.

Amen.

 

Jon Seaton

[Thursday's Devotional] - Grumpy Old Men

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, ‘How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’

Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

‘No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’ Matthew 9:14-17 [NIV]

 

I thought I should include a passage on fasting this week, as it is Lent.

 

If, like me, you are not fasting or giving something up for Lent, you’re in good company – Jesus’s disciples didn’t fast either.  However when the passage above was written, fasting would be a common practice, whereas it is not so much in today’s Christian practice.

 

As I get older, I notice I have got a bit grumpier.  People get dropped off my Christmas card list, people get told my aches and pains.  Although “Grumpy Old Men” is a TV comedy show, its observational humour of older people’s traits rings true.  However, I do not want to become like that!

 

In the passage, I think the wine refers to the good news of the kingdom and new wineskins are new followers.  The Pharisees are like the old wineskins, the grumpy old men going through a fast merely as a ritual and unable to take on the Gospel.

 

My desire this Lent is to go deeper in my Faith.  A challenge for me is not to become a grumpy old man like a Pharisee stuck in his ways.  I want to be like a new wineskin, able to adapt to new things and “living life in its fullness” (John 10:10).

 

Ironically, fasting is quite a fresh idea now, and one I should maybe re-visit.  What practices could you adopt that would keep you like a new wineskin?

 

Jon Seaton

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Talents

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.  So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.  After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them…..

 

[after those who been given 5 and 2 bags of gold had been commended, the master’s focus turns to the one who had been given one bag..]

 

‘Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” ‘His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Matthew 25:14-19, 26-27 [NIV]

 

I remember hearing this parable as a child, maybe aged 9, and feeling quite indignant.  I had money in my money box, just like the man who buried it in the ground, and my parents encouraged me to save it.  I couldn’t see what was wrong. Although the meaning of the story was lost on me at that age, I think my reaction was the same as the one Jesus was trying to create in his adult hearers - to challenge normal behaviour with a shocking story.

 

Of course the story is not mainly about how we invest our money, but rather how we invest ourselves. Do we react out of fear or laziness, trying to preserve our lifestyle? Is life a damage limitation exercise?

 

The implication of the story is that investing yourself is a difficult business, as the servant comments that his master “harvests where he hasn’t sown”.  It could all go wrong, but Jesus says it is imperative that we take the risk and go and do something with what we are given.

 

Have you taken stock of your talents recently? How are you spending them?

 

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it”. Matthew 16:25 [NIV]

 

Jon Seaton

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Paralysis by Analysis

We have been booking a holiday recently, and all the campsites are rated out of 10 from survey results.  I don’t just have the brochure to inform my choice, I have people’s personal reviews on the internet, Google Street View of the surrounding area, Tripadvisor ratings… the whole process took us hours of research, but because the data was there, we felt we had to use it to come to the best decision. It was really exhausting.

 

In this age of research, surveys and digital information, it is easy to approach all aspects of life through your computer, including Bible study.  It is easier now to be an amateur theologian, with online commentaries, blogs, etc.  Some intellectual rigour is certainly helpful to gain insight and have a sound worldview, but it can end up as quite an exhausting experience as you try and assess different opinions on the meaning of a passage.

 

I think Biblical truth mainly comes to us as revelation through obedience rather than by analysis.  The Pharisees had a thorough knowledge of Scripture, yet often missed the point.  They weighed people down with rules rather than liberating them to live.

 

Oswald Chambers comments “We read some things in the Bible three hundred and sixty-five times and they mean nothing to us, then all of a sudden we see what God means, because in some particular we have obeyed God, and instantly His nature is opened up”.

 

Therefore, I want to retain the Bible as the life building Word of God spoken into my life, and not merely an exhausting assessment of arguments for and against certain points of view.  I want to treasure it and have it there for my benefit.

 

I hope on our holiday our research will prove to be worthwhile.  I hope the Google street view image in my mind will be re-inforced by the true image.  In the same way, I hope I can be obedient to Jesus’ commands, and experience the truth of Scripture more in my life.

 

Jon Seaton

[Monday's Devotional] - A refreshing cup of tea

“That hits the spot” and such phrases have gone into the English language to express the refreshment that comes from drinking tea. (If you’re not a tea drinker you’ll have to imagine your favourite thirst quenching drink for the purposes of this devotional!).  There is also the rest that can accompany your cuppa – maybe a mid-morning break from work, and an opportunity to chat. The emphasis is on what we feel – our body demanding some liquid and a rest, and that need being satisfied along with the pleasure of the taste.

 

Of course, we are normally only conscious of our desire for a drink, rather than the essential, life sustaining properties.  If we kept ignoring these demands, then you can only survive for about a week without water, and it’s a lot less than that in the heat.

 

It is interesting that Jesus uses a drink as one of the symbols to remember him by at the Last Supper. He also uses the analogy of the thirst quenching drink with the woman at the well, saying that:

 

“…whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life”. John 4:14[NIV]

 

So, maybe as you have a cup of tea today and are conscious of your need for a drink, use it as a reminder to bring your needs to God.  Or maybe after you chat to colleagues or friends, you could talk to God.  But remember that just as it is essential for your body to stay hydrated, the really important thing to stay alive spiritually is remembering Jesus’ sacrifice for us.

 

“Do this as often as you drink it” Jesus said at the Last Supper. Maybe remember his sacrifice for you over a cuppa today.

 

Jon Seaton