We’ve almost reached the halfway point in this year’s church-wide Bible reading project at MoSt, the Uncommon Truth for Common People project (UTCP). Consequently, now is a good time to stop and review the bite-sized portions of Scripture we’ve been encouraged to memorize and meditate on through the course of the past six months. How much of the following have you deliberately set your heart on thus far this year? How much do you recall?
Bible reading – “You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves.” (James 1:22)
prayer – “But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.” (Lk. 5:16)
community – “You are the body of Christ and parts of each other.” (1 Cor. 12:27)
serving – “Don’t hesitate to be enthusiastic—be on fire in the Spirit as you serve the Lord!” (Rom. 12:11)
stewardship – “Teach us to number our days so we can have a wise heart.” (Ps. 90:12)
love – “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.” (Jn. 15:12)
hospitality – “… provide for their journey in a way that honors God.” (3 Jn. 6b)
self-discipline – “… desire first and foremost God’s kingdom and God’s righteousness …” (Matt. 6:33)
testing – “… it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine.” (1 Pet. 1.6-7)
character – “… God has been generous to me, and I have everything I need.” (Gen. 33.11)
perseverance – “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” (Jn. 15:4a)
obedience – “I hurry to keep your commandments – I never put it off!” (Ps. 119:60)
second chances – “… we had to celebrate. … He was lost and is found.” (Lk. 15.32)
sharing your faith – “All the things I do are for the sake of the gospel …” (1 Cor. 9:23)
hope – “I put my hope in you all day long.” (Ps. 25.5b)
reconciliation – “… everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be in danger of judgment.” (Matt. 5.22)
worship – “… let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5.24)
communion – “…we who are many are one body, because we all share the one loaf of bread.” (1 Cor. 10.17)
family – “…my family and I will serve the Lord.” (Josh. 24.15b)
grace – “You are saved by God’s grace because of your faith.” (Eph. 2.8a)
baptism – “Change your hearts and lives. Each of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” (Acts 2.38)
truth – “… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8.32)
Holy Spirit – “… you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit …” (Rom. 8.9a)
setting an example – “…set an example for the believers …” (1 Tim. 4.12a)
courage – “If we are to enter God’s kingdom, we must pass through many troubles.” (Acts 14.22b)
Feed your head. Help your heart. Strengthen your spirit. Work on your ways. Walk the talk. Take in, chew on, digest, and be the good stuff of God.
“The Footwashing [John 13] is the classic parable of how – almost ‘incredibly’ – Jesus wants to relate perpetually to hid disciples: namely, to be at our service. (But aren’t we at his service? He is Lord. Yet he apparently wishes to live much of his Lordship in the service of his people. This is hard ever to grasp. It must be preached and taught again and again, and believed again and again.) For some mysterious reason we mortals – and not least, we disciples – resist divinity’s free grace, its totally unmerited service of us, its way of saving or ‘salvaging’ us human beings. This story illustrates the Gospel’s truth unforgettably. Moral: Let us let ourselves be loved by the Lord. Let Jesus be our Servant-Lord, not our conscience (in relation to the Lord, that is to say; ethically conscience is, under Christ’s Lordship, often a good guide). Give in. Be washed, simply because Jesus wants to wash us and not because we think or feel we deserve to be washed.”
