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Everyday Contemplative: A Lenten Online Experience
What does it mean to be contemplative? Many of us carry around stereotypical pictures of contemplative Read More
James C. Howell | Read Psalm 63:1-5
Got Jesus? is a question, almost a dare, I’ve seen posed by posters and sweatshirts. I want to respond by saying, “I hope he’s got me.” But a better answer might be, “Not yet.” Psalm 63 epitomizes what the spiritual life is all about. “I seek you, my soul thirsts...
Lord, I get mixed up thinking of my cloudy vision of you and my ongoing yearning for more as problems. Teach me to delight in my quest for you, to find pleasure in having more questions, and to know it is a privilege to be thirsty for you. Amen.
In the midst of Lent, when many might be giving up a certain food that they love, we read about feasting. The focus is not on physical feasting, but on feasting as a metaphor for communing with God. Isaiah describes food and drink that one cannot buy with money, for it comes freely from the Lord. The psalmist describes the state of his soul as being hungry and thirsty. Only meditating on God’s faithfulness nourishes his soul at the deepest level. Physical food is momentary, but spiritual nourishment endures. In First Corinthians, Paul appeals to this imagery. Although the ancients experience this spiritual nourishment, some pursue physical pleasure and stray into idolatry and immorality. Partaking in this nourishment should cause us in turn to produce spiritual fruit, as Jesus admonishes his listeners.
Read Isaiah 55:1-9. When has God’s grace inverted your expectations?
Read Psalm 63:1-8. As you mature in faith, what new questions about God do you ask?
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Think of a time you have faced great temptation. How did God help you endure it?
Read Luke 13:1-9. For what do you need to repent?
Respond by posting a prayer.
