Thought for the day -Tuesday 6 October

Thought for the Day – Tuesday 6th October ‘The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.’ (Psalm 24: 1) In this week when we are being encouraged to think about our stewardship of all God has given us and not just the earth and everything in it but also all the people who live upon it - I could not help but be drawn to this particular verse today thinking as I was about one particular person today. You see, today should have been a day of celebration for our family, a day when we had planned to all get together somewhere mid-way between here and South Wales and celebrate with my elder son Richard on his fortieth birthday. Sadly, as most other families are experiencing, that celebration has had to be put on hold due to Covid-19 and all the different restrictions which are in place in different parts of our country, limiting travel and the number of families meeting up and how many people can meet up and so on. Yet, although it is disappointing that we may not be able to physically meet up we all realise that we can still celebrate together as a family for we can celebrate the life of Richard which God so graciously gave us forty years ago, we can celebrate all the years we have shared together so far as a family and we can be thankful to God for them and we can hopefully pray for the years yet to come and praise God for his many blessings to us past, present and future. So, yes Covid-19 has kind of scuppered not just our plans today but many plans for the last six months and for many months to come I am sure. Indeed it has radically changed our world and our lives but when you think about it that little virus is now part of our world too and if we as Christians have to care for everything and all people within God’s world then we have to think about how we live with that virus in our world - just as we have to think about how we live with other viruses and medical conditions, as well as things like hatred and injustice and discrimination and so on. If the earth is the Lord’s, as we as Christian’s claim, then we owe it to God to take care of everything within it. Now I don’t mean we cultivate Covid-19 but we do our best to live with it in our world and adapt to our ‘new normal’ life no matter how inconvenient that may be; we do our best to protect God’s people from getting it by following the rules and we do our utmost to care for those who do get the virus and we do all of this as Christians not just for our own sakes but for God’s sake. Keep safe, keep well, keep faith in a God who loves us at all times. Prayer Loving Lord, As the Psalmist says, you see deep into our hearts and you know everything about us. You know when we are working or resting, when we come and when we go. No matter where we are, we are never out of your sight. Even before we speak a word, you already know what we are going to say and your reassuring presence surrounds us at all times. Such knowledge is so far above us we can’t even begin to comprehend it! It was you who created us, who formed us inside our mothers’ womb so we praise you for the gift of life and for the miracle of our bodies. Everything you do is marvellous and worthy of our praise! Nothing about us is hidden from you! Even before we were born, you knew us and watched over us and you continue to walk with us, throughout all the stages of our lives. Your thoughts are far beyond our understanding, Lord, more than we could ever imagine. They outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. Look deep into our hearts, Lord, search out our hidden thoughts and motives and keep us from actions that will bring harm to ourselves or to others and guide us in the ways that lead to life. We ask these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.