Studying this morning's four readings from the St. James Daily Devotional Guide (click to subscribe), I examined myself with these questions. Where is your self-examination leading today?
Psalms 63:1-11. Verses 1 and 5, at this time of economic and medical crisis, why would my chief desire of body and soul be the nearness of God, an abstraction as some would say? How can that realistically help me?
Jeremiah 50:1-46. Verses 6 and 7, 17-20. In what way have unfaithful shepherds misled the people of God? What will his rescue look like today, this year, and the remaining years of my life? What’s expected of me?
I Corinthians 5:9-13. How can I follow both Jesus’ example of eating with sinners and Paul’s injunction to shun them? How does my church navigate this difficulty? What names come to mind as I ponder this?
Matthew 22:23-33. Verses 29 and 33, why does Jesus want me to know the Scriptures, and to realize we follow not the God of the dead but the God of the living? How will that help me face the pandemic today?
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To go deeper, see interpretive notes by Bible scholar Patrick Reardon for many of this week's readings.