WATCHWORD:
2 Now at evening time David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king’s house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance. 3 So David sent servants and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 Then David sent messengers and had her brought, and when she came to him, he slept with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 But the woman conceived; so she sent word and informed David, and said, “I am pregnant.” 2 Samuel 11:2-5
15 Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes, which were there in the house, and gave them to her younger son, Jacob. 16 She covered his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skin of the young goats. 17 Then she gave Jacob the delicious meal, including freshly baked bread. 18 So Jacob took the food to his father. “My father?” he said. “Yes, my son,” Isaac answered. “Who are you—Esau or Jacob?” 19 Jacob replied, “It’s Esau, your firstborn son. I’ve done as you told me. Here is the wild game. Now sit up and eat it so you can give me your blessing.” 20 Isaac asked, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The Lord your God put it in my path!” Jacob replied. Genesis 27:15-20
Meditation:
Not a Saint?
In a recent conversation with a friend, I thanked her for a kindness that she extended to me, telling her that “she was a saint”. Her reply was “I’m no saint”, to which I responded by telling her she certainly was, because that is the way God made us. We are saints not because we do good things, or lose out on saint-hood because of mistakes we make. We are saints because we are children of God.
Check your Bible for the heroes, the saints of Christianity. One of the most prominent stories in the Bible is about that saint, King David. He was a great ruler but he was also a fornicator and, you can say, he was an adulterer as well. But King David wasn’t the only one. Plenty of other luminaries of the Bible did terrible things at various points in their lives. Saul was a disbeliever, Moses was a doubter. Jacob was a liar.
Yet, despite their behavior, God made them His witness and used them to accomplish His purpose. Not only did He forgive them, but He also endowed them with unmerited favor. How about that? All were saints, and our Christian faith was molded by their influence.
Okay, how about you and me, including my friend? We are all recipients of God’s mercy and Grace. You remember mercy and grace, both are given despite the fact that we are undeserving. Being honest with ourselves we have sinned over and over again and he has shown us kindness and compassion, and the ultimate act of grace that we most certainly did not deserve, he sent his son so all of us could be saved.
So, are you a saint? Within God’s grace and mercy, you are. Those gifts are undoubtedly God’s ultimate expression of His love for us. Fellow saints, never forget that. Amen.
Praying an Anthem:
- Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love what Thou dost love,
And do what Thou wouldst do. - Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Until my heart is pure,
Until with Thee I will one will,
To do and to endure. - Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine. - Breathe on me, Breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity. Amen.
