Thought for the Day - Monday 21 September

Thought for the Day – Monday 21^st September

‘I have come so that you shall have life, and have it to the full.’ (John 10: 10)

 

Sometimes as a parent or grandparent you feel your life is just full of constant nagging or constantly saying ‘no!’, that you are always being negative. I am sure that truly many times we do so because we are trying to get our little ones to understand what is safe to do and what is not safe to do and so we have to keep repeating the same old things to them, but it can get to feel like we are a broken record!

I think I have to agree with Nick Fawcett, a writer of liturgy, that sometimes the impression other people get of the church is very similar – as if it is constantly nagging or being negative in its thoughts. You know, you could hardly say that when folk see those Wayside Pulpit messages emblazoned with words such as ‘The Wages of Sin is death!’ or some other equally cheery message that they would believe we are a positive bunch of folk!

We certainly cannot deny that there is a very negative element to parts of the Bible particularly the Old Testament where we get all those ‘Thou shalt not…’ Commandments, which to some would seem like nagging, but that is by no means the whole story for in the teaching of Jesus the message was totally reversed.

In his teaching instead of ‘You shall not’ it became ’You shall’ with all of those negative phrases now being summed up in one big positive, namely, ‘A new commandment I give to you: Love one another’ (John 13: 14)

Then all through Jesus’ teaching it is the same story, you shall have, you shall know, you shall find – the blind shall see, the lame shall walk, the imprisoned shall be set free, the pure in heart shall see God, the hungry and the thirsty shall be satisfied and so on and so on.

So let’s not think that being a Christian is about what you can’t do, and certainly let’s not give others the impression that this is the case!

Ultimately being a Christian is about what you can do and about all the possibilities loving Jesus opens up to us and about the sheer potential of life! After all Jesus said that is why he came: ‘… so that you shall have life, and have it to the full.’

 

A Prayer from Christian Aid

 

Merciful God, 
who is more than we can ever imagine, give us a wider vision of the world; give us a broader view of justice; give us dreams of peace that are not defined by boundaries of geography or race or religion, 
or by the limitations of worldly structures and systems. 
Lord, open our eyes and our ears that wherever we go, we may hear your voice calling us by name; 
calling us to serve, calling us to share, calling us to praise, so that we never give up on the promise of your kingdom, where the world is transformed, and all can enjoy life in all its fullness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.