Daily Scripture13 As a father has compassion on his children, so is the Lord merciful towards those who fear him. 14 For he knows of what we are made; he remembers that we are but dust.15 Our days are but as grass; we flourish as a flower of the field;16 For as soon as the wind goes over it, it is gone, and its place shall know it no more.17 But the merciful goodness of the Lord is from of oldand endures for ever on those who fear him, and his righteousness on children’s children; (Psalm 103:13-17)Daily ReflectionThis portion of Psalm 103 tells of our generous Father God, who treats us like the children we are to him – lovingly, with mercy and compassion. He doesn’t harbour any illusions about us, he remembers that he formed us from dust. And of course, this is true, even in a scientific sense – you and I are in essence space dust! This makes us both infinitely precious and very insignificant. Who knows where all our atoms have been before they assembled as little old you, or silly little me? There is a thought to make your head spin!Another thought, that pulls in the opposite direction is, that our time is very short, we are here today and gone tomorrow, as the Psalm says.But God and his mercy last forever and ever, even longer than the stars. Revd Ylva
Daily ScriptureFrom today’s CollectO God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, increase and multiply upon us your mercy, that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal.Daily Reflection What are the most important things in our lives? How do we make our decisions? Do we have certain values and principles that are non-negotiable, or do we make it all up as we go along? The great advantage of having some set principles, as I remember pointing out to one of my teenage children, is that you don’t have to make a case by case decision. For example, if you are firmly committed to faithfulness in marriage you may admire the charm and beauty of someone else’s partner, but you don’t have to decide whether or not to embark on an affair!We pray that with God’s guidance we may keep our eyes fixed on the things that really matter, and which lead to genuine, happiness.‘God will show us the path of life; in his presence is the fullness of joy’ (Ps 16.1) Revd Rosemary
Daily Scripture Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (Romans 14 v 4) Daily Reflection God sees each one of us as individuals, unique in our own way and loved by Him just as much as the other - so who are we, mere mortals, to judge each other as either inferior or superior. Needing to always be right, and others wrong - assuring ourselves we occupy the moral high ground - can be a way of avoiding admitting, either to God or ourselves, that actually we are fallible. God loves us warts and all - so even when we disagree with one another, we should not mentally put others down, or despise them. Surely, we should instead pray that they will come to understand and know what it is for the Lord to ‘make them stand’ - and hope they pray the same for us. Lyn Hayes ALM
