Philip the Apostle

For Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Second Sunday after Epiphany

I’d like to share with you why I find so powerful the weekly rhythm of reading, praying through, and applying the weekly lectionary readings.  It is because every time I read and reflect I sense the Holy Spirit pressing me into his mold.  This is a good thing because I still need a great deal of pressing.  Yet how refreshing it is to invite something other than the secular culture to mold me in its image.

In this week’s first reading Samuel says, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3).  The irony is that Eli, the man who told him to say this, was unwilling to say it himself.  Eli knew God was there but this reality wasn’t important enough for Eli to care about being molded accordingly along with his own sons.

Will we be people who know what to say but refuse to say it (a.k.a. Eli’s)?  Or will we be people who wake up each morning and say to God as Samuel did, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Do you have a plan for your own Bible reading for 2012?  If not, how about committing with me to read the weekly lectionary readings?  The four readings together can be read in 30 minutes per week.  Yet I can promise you that if you commit to this, and do it with a heart that says, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening,” you will be changed, and it will happen quickly.

Reader’s corner:

• To what plan of Bible reading is God calling you this next year?
• Would you like to join me in reading the weekly lectionary readings?  If so, what would be a good way for us to encourage each other?
• What has God been saying to you recently about how he wants to bless your life?