Obey
“We will obey the Lord and do everything he has commanded!” ~ Exodus 24:7 (CEV)
Jesus says, "Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother or sister or mother." ~ Matthew 12:50 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Being connected with God is more about acting on his agenda and commands than about wearing the right label.
PRAYER:
Thank you, Jesus, for connecting us to your Father -- helping us to become his adopted children -- your brothers and sisters. We too often misinterpret what that means. I pay too much attention to church labels and associations with well-known people. Help me to shift my focus to obedience -- trusting you so much that I (and we) do what you say. That's the radical kind of faith I want to live. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2011 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
