Thought for 20 January 2022

 Matthew 7:12 (New Living Translation)

 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

1 Corinthians 10:18 (New Living Translation)

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

As you are probably aware, the daily readings I use come from a website called Bible Gateway.  I used to just visit the site when I had a thought for the day to write.  Recently I got them to email me their daily reading.  You’ll see that I’ve included two readings today, well, the second reading was emailed to me yesterday and I thought it was well worth sharing along with today’s offering.

The two main commandments given by Jesus were to love God and love each other.  Our first reading says exactly the same as the second of these commandments but in a slightly different way.  There’s not a lot of words used but there are many implications.  It means we need to be tolerant, we need to be forgiving, we need to be considerate, we need to be generous (with our time and our money), we need to help the poor, we need to have genuine empathy and sympathy with others when the situation demands, we need to not get angry or violent, we need to not be vengeful.  It also means that it won’t be easy, because all the things we shouldn’t be saying, thinking or doing are temptations and barriers put there by the devil to distance us from our Lord.

When I look at the list I’ve just written, it makes me quite uncomfortable as it should for anyone else that reads it.  We surely must immediately think that none of us could possibly live up to what Jesus asks from us.

Paul recognises this when writing the words of our second reading by reminding us that God loves us and will not ask anything from us that we are incapable of achieving.  He also reminds us that when we are facing the difficulties in this life that are set before us, all we need to do is to ask for his help. As the old hymn says:  Ask the Saviour to help you, Comfort strengthen and keep you, He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through.

 Prayer            Our Lord and our God, we thank you for all things, and as we look at the beautiful full moon in a perfectly clear sky last night and this morning, we thank you for the wonder of creation and ask; who are we that you would care for us?  Help us realise that you are always near us and love to hear from us when we thank you, when we ask for help and when we ask you to help others.  Lord, help us resist the temptations of this world that we face every day and remind us to turn to you when we struggle.      Amen