Eastern Saturday
Daily Reading: Leviticus 4, Psalm 94, 1 Corinthians 6, Proverbs 4
My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:20-27
As I am writing this post it is Saturday of Easter weekend. I have been thinking a lot today about what the disciples must have been going through. They have been following Jesus, learning from him, watching him perform miracles, and suddenly he is gone. Dead.
Jesus prepped them for this and told them this was coming. Multiple times throughout Matthew he also let them know that on the third day he would rise from the dead.
Yet, when the moment came, their faith wavered.
Could they really trust Jesus to rise from the dead?
Was he truly coming back?
Were they now all alone?
It must have been a terrifying time, unsure what to expect next.
I was contemplating all of this as I was doing my reading for the day, and struck by how easy this can be for us as well. As followers of Jesus we all want to trust in God’s word.
However, when adversity strikes, it can occasionally get challenging! We can lose sight of the bigger picture and God’s promises. We can even forget times he has shown up in our lives already, or what the Bible says to be true.
When it comes to remembering God’s word, there is a lot of wisdom in Proverbs today:
Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
In these times of strife, it is easy to let God’s word out of our sight. It is easy to fall away from scripture. It is easy to worry about the past, or what is coming up, and lose sight of the path straight ahead of us that God has laid out.
We can frequently be far less than steadfast in our ways.
I am sure the disciples felt this deeply as they huddled together, wondering what was about to happen next.
When has God’s word felt distant in times of trouble?
Be steadfast.
Do not let God’s word out of your sight.
Daily Reflection & Dialogue
When have you recently struggled to keep God’s word front of mind and found it challenging to focus on the path in front of you when faced with challenges?
