PAY ATTENTION
The First Sunday in the Season of Christmas
PSALM 40:4 (CEB)
Those who put their trust in the LORD,
who pay no attention to the proud
or to those who follow lies,
are truly happy!
2 PETER 1:19 (CEV)
All of this makes us even more certain that what the prophets said is true. So you should pay close attention to their message, as you would to a lamp shining in some dark place. You must keep on paying attention until daylight comes and the morning star rises in your hearts.
SUMMARY SENTENCE
The year 2021 will be a year to learn how to pay closer attention to God's messages and his message to us.
PRAYER
Gracious God, you sent your Son in the world to change everything -- including me. Forgive me for being such a hit-and-miss follower. Teach me how I can pay closer attention to your word. I'm committing the next year to learning what you are up to. I'm going to gravitate toward your light during the dark times. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 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 — my own 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)
