Reflection Day 232
Isaiah 43-45; Psalm 39; 2 Timothy 3
By The Rev. Mark Andrew Jones, BSG
Recently, I anointed a childhood friend who is like a brother to me. We embraced for perhaps the last time as he is dying of cancer. Last night our son learned of the death of a classmate. Tragedy is real and death can strike at any age. “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4).
Sometimes we might tremble, but then a soft whisper rises up within my heart. In the stillness of contemplation I hear the Lord say, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. … Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:1b, 4).
You do a new thing, but many do not see or accept. Still, I will rely on the Word of God. I shall not fear or be afraid. I know that people can “be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). Still, I will rely on the Word of God. I shall not fear or be afraid; for we but need to “turn to [God] and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22).
Isaiah 43-45; Psalm 39; 2 Timothy 3
By The Rev. Mark Andrew Jones, BSG
Recently, I anointed a childhood friend who is like a brother to me. We embraced for perhaps the last time as he is dying of cancer. Last night our son learned of the death of a classmate. Tragedy is real and death can strike at any age. “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4).
Sometimes we might tremble, but then a soft whisper rises up within my heart. In the stillness of contemplation I hear the Lord say, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. … Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you” (Isaiah 43:1b, 4).
You do a new thing, but many do not see or accept. Still, I will rely on the Word of God. I shall not fear or be afraid. I know that people can “be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). Still, I will rely on the Word of God. I shall not fear or be afraid; for we but need to “turn to [God] and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22).
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