Beginning of Wisdom

Responses to God's Faithfulness

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

Obedient Faith

Psalm 111 New International Version

1 Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
    in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
    they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
    and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
    the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
    He remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
    giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established forever and ever,
    enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
    He ordained his covenant forever—
    holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
    all who follow his precepts have a good understanding.
    To him belongs eternal praise.

For Reflection

As children of God, we are to obey God's laws. Not like puppets moved by celestial strings in a master's hands but as a family in the household of God. We obey because we find joy in respecting the rules. We obey not grudgingly in hostile rebellion, nor robotically without personal commitment. We obey out of love for the Creator.

Pray
Pray so that you will be more able to discern God's will.  Pray and become the obedient person God has called you to be.


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Jesus Forgives and Heals

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Forgives

Acts 10:34-38 The Message

34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

For Reflection

God's chosen people have disobeyed God frequently. With each instance, God has forgiven them and shown mercy. And so it is with us. Jesus Christ has shown us not only how to live, but through Christ, as remained with us to encourage and guide us in our desire to be obedient to God's will.  When we succeed, God rejoyces. When we fail, God forgives and reconciles our sin. God assures us that God, through Christ, can help us repent and find the peace our souls demand.

Pray
Pray prayers of thanksgiving, lament, praise, and confession.  Listen to the Holy Spirit and find rest amid harmony and turmoil.


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Defeated by Disobedience

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Forgives

Numbers 14:36-45 New International Version
36 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— 37 these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 38 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.
39 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 40 Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go up to the land the Lordpromised. Surely we have sinned!”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! 42 Do not go up because the Lord is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, 43 for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the Lord, he will not be with you and, you will fall by the sword.”
44 Nevertheless, in their presumption, they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the Lord’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

For Reflection

Bolstered by the fear-mongering of some of the spies, the people doubled-down, Now filled with distrust of God, they were willing to disobey God's plan for peaceful coexistence in the promised land. In their reliance on themselves, they thought they knew better than God.

Success never begins with sin. Going in on their own without God ensured their defeat.  And so it is for us.

Pray
Pray and renew your commitment to God's plan for the salvation of humankind. Pray so that you can depend on God's grace, power, and promise of rest from our wearinesses.

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Children Suffer for Adult's Sins

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Forgives

Numbers 14:31-35 New International Version
31 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.34 For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this wilderness; here they will die.”

For Reflection

Yes, our children have to bear the burden of our wickedness; our excursions into idolatry, our unwillingness to steward the gift of Creation, our reluctance to distribute the world's resources in such a way that we all can survive, our excuses for avoiding accepting or passing on grace, our tendency for placing self over the well-being of others, our tendency to turn to violence to resolve conflict. -- Need I go on?

God does not initiate this suffering. WE DO!  It is the natural result of not tempering our humanity with spirituality.

Pray
Pray constantly. Confess to God your incapacity for righteous living and be transformed by your admissions.


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Frustration and Desperation

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Forgives

Numbers 14:26-30 New International Version
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 27 “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. 28 So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very thing I heard you say: 29 In this wilderness your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.30 Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

For Reflection

Their journey was long and arduous. The slavery they left was comforting in comparison with the perils they faced or imagined. Tired and feeling abandoned, the refugees struggled to keep faith and hope.  God became the reason for their predicament, not their savior. Grumbling and griping are familiar among so many of us. God becomes the "original born loser" -- blamed for everything untoward - the uncontrollable act of God.

Only a few of the stalwart believers look beyond their current troubles to find God's solution and peace in the turbulence.



Pray
Pray and look to God's tomorrows when all will be revealed, and you will find rest.


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Iniquity of God's People

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Forgives

Numbers 14:21-25 New International Version (NIV)
21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. 25 Since the Amalekites and the Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.[a]”

For Reflection

They have ears but do not hear, eyes but cannot see, hearts but cannot trust the promise of God.  I suppose it is true also for us today that unless we believe in the promise of God and are confident that God will lead us into God's kingdom, we will never experience the peace that God has intended for us. We will be forever held captive by our fears.

Pray
Pray and become confident in the promise of God.


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Moses Intercedes and God Listens

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Numbers 14:13-20 New International Version

13 Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power, you brought these people up from among them. 14 And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard that you, Lord, are with these people and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face, that your cloud stays over them, and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 16 ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath, so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’
17 “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
20 The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked.

For Reflection

Forgiveness, compassion, empathy, trust, and hope are God's gift to us. God made us in his image, so if God can put away God's anger and honor God's divine covenant, so can we.

Pray
Pray so that you can become worthy of God's trust in you. Pray so that you can honor God's covenant to make all things right.  Pray so that you can displace your fear with confident hope.


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Who Will Enter Canaan?

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Deuteronomy 1:26-32 New International Version

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

For Reflection

Verse 26 indicates the power of fear and rumor -- their words of perceived impending doom, impatience, distrust and rebellious speeches and actions. They had eyes but could not see, ears but could not hear God's promise to prepare a place for them and protect them. They did not see the real nature of the Canaanites. They saw only that which augmented their fears.

Pray
Pray about that which you fear. Pray and internalize the promise of God to provide for your safety.


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Moses Resists God's Proposal

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Exodus 32:7-14 New International Version

7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

For Reflection

God's people resisted the call of God many times (especially in the old testament). God's people became the idol they worshiped, "stiff-necked" cows. They had turned away from their God and as a result, had eyes but could not see and ears but could not hear. God recognizes the sincerity and truth in Moses response.  If God can quell his anger, then we too should not let anger overrule our sense of love, compassion, and empathy.

Pray
Pray when angered. Pray so that you can focus your concern toward helpful healing solutions.


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Reporting Mixed Reviews

Responding To God's Grace

God Answers Prayer

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Hears Our Cry

Numbers 13:30-33 New International Version 
30 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” 32 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 33 We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

For Reflection

Some of those who were dispatched came back with ominous reports of large, strong people. They feared that their presence in Canaan would trigger violence. The news spread quickly among the people. The story multiplied fear among those who distrusted God's power to protect them.

To what extent does your confidence in God allay your fears when confronted by potential threats?

Pray
Pray for the confidence which comes from your knowledge that God will protect you.


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Biblical Intel

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Numbers 13:17-24 Amplified Bible

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many, 19 and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications, 20 and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north]. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.

For Reflection

Moses led the Israelites on their treck into Cannan.  The band of refugees escaping slavery in Egypt wandered toward the promised land for forty years. Now, nearing the end of their journey, they feared the reception they might encounter from the Canaanites. Leaders from each of the twelve tribes were sent into Canaan to find out how they would be accepted. With every spiritual and physical indication that God had prepared the way, they were still wary.
How do you face the unknown?

Pray
Pray prayers of thanksgiving for the opportunities God offers you. Pray for courage and skill to meet the demands of unknown risk.  Pray and rely on the promise of God that all will end well.


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Symbols of Remembrance

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Exodus 16:31-36 Amplified Bible (AMP)
31 The house of Israel called the bread manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like flat pastry (wafers) made with honey. 32 Then Moses said, “This is the word which the Lord commands, ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron [eventually] placed it in the presence of the [a]Testimony, to be kept. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years until they reached an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 (Now an [b]omer is the tenth of an [c]ephah.)

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 16:34 The stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written.
2. Exodus 16:36 I.e. a little over two quarts.
3. Exodus 16:36 I.e. approx one bushel.

For Reflection

Think about the symbols or the symbolic acts that are part of your religious or spiritual practices. What meanings are central to that which you are to be reminded?  What acts of faith do you recall as pivotal? What beliefs are you reminded of that lead you to a healthy spiritual life?

Pray

Pray and contemplate the status of your faith and spiritual practices.  

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Observing the Sabbath

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Exodus 16:22-30 Amplified Bible

The Sabbath Observed

22 Now on the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each person; and all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord’; bake and boil what you will bake and boil [today], and all that remains left over put aside for yourselves to keep until morning.” 24 They put it aside until morning, as Moses told them, and it did not become foul, nor was it wormy. 25 Then Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none [in the field].”
27 Now on the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you [people] refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions (laws)? 29 See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore, He gives you the bread for two days on the sixth day. Let every man stay in his place; no man is to leave his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

For Reflection

Here is another example of God's will for economic and social justice.  Suppose you had to work seven days a week in backbreaking labor for 14 hours a day with little or no pay. What do you think that would do to your spirit, to your family life to your children's lives or to your sense of hope?

The Sabbath gave people a break. A day to rest. A day to restore one’s spirit. A day to rejoice life with family and friends.

Pray
Set aside time once a week to renew your spirit and reestablish your trust and hope in your God and your faith.

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Conducting Daily Duties

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Exodus 16:16-21 Amplified Bible

16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let every man gather as much of it as he needs. Take an [a]omer for each person, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’” 17 The Israelites did so, and some gathered much [of it] and some [only a] little. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered a large amount had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered according to his need (family size). 19 Moses said, “Let none of it be left [overnight] until [the next] morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left a supply of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul and rotten, and Moses was angry with them. 21 So they gathered it every morning, each as much as he needed because when the sun was hot, it melted.

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 16:16 I.e. a little over two quarts.

For Reflection

In these passages, we get a glimpse of the will of God.  God intends that each human being has sufficient food to satisfy his dietary needs.  Some gathered a lot and others gathered little. Not everyone had the same amount of food.  Each had just enough. It was not an equal distribution of resources but an equitable, fair one.
Some saved what they had gathered. This holding of food indicates a lack of trust in the will of God, and the food spoiled.

Pray
Pray for the equitable sharing of our nation’s resources and opportunity. Contemplate the peace that would result if those who are trapped by insufficient resources had the means and support to escape their lot in life.


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Celebrate Each Others Strengths

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

1 Corinthians 12:18-26 Amplified Bible

18 But now [as things really are], God has placed and arranged the parts in the body, each one of them, just as He willed and saw fit [with the best balance of function]. 19 If they all were a single organ, where would [the rest of] the body be? 20 But now [as things really are] there are many parts [different limbs and organs], but a single body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 But quite the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are [absolutely] necessary; 23 and as for those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, these we treat with greater honor; and our less presentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 while our more presentable parts do not require it. But God has combined the [whole] body, giving greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 so that there would be no division or discord in the body [that is, lack of adaptation of the parts to each other], but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the parts share the suffering; if one member is honored, all rejoice with it.

For Reflection

Most often, these passages are used to describe the differentiation of talent in the church and the need to collaborate effectively. However, one could also say that these passages can be applied to all humans. Being a member of a Christian church does not exclude or excuse one from characterizing all humanity as divine.  We have all been created by God. Even though many do not recognize or accept their divine origin, the fact remains, we are all the children of God. The privileges and blessings of the Christian Church should be extended to all people.  That is the task God sets before us -- the stewardship of all of God's Creation --including each other.

Pray
Pray for the skill and patience to see all people as children of God.  Pray so that you can offer unconditional love and healing to all of you brothers and sisters, without regard to their faith choices.


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Striking a Fair Balance

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

2 Corinthians 8:9-15 New International Version

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time, your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”[a]

For Reflection

Striking a Fair Balance -- A perfect synonym for Distributive Justice. Those who have more resources than others are to share with those whose resources are few. This means that As stewards of God's resources, those who are wealthy have a responsibility to share a portion of what they have for the good of those who are in need. Humble bestowal is defined by one's willingness to give and to complete the gift without an expectation for reward.  It matters little if one has good intentions but does not follow through. One who has more than one needs and strives to gain even more enormous wealth at the expense of those who are barely surviving is offensiveness.

America is a wealthy nation. The question is, how fairly are the rewards and costs shared by its citizens? How fair is the distribution of opportunity?

Pray
Pray for those in greatest need. Pray that those who have the most share their resources with those who have less. Pray for a society that loves each other and shares its collective resources equitably.



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Hannah is Rewarded

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

1Samuel 2:18-21 The Message

18-20 In the midst of all this, Samuel, a boy dressed in a priestly linen tunic, served God. Additionally, every year, his mother would make him a little robe cut to his size and bring it to him when she and her husband came for the annual sacrifice. Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “God give you children to replace this child you have dedicated to God.” Then they would go home.
21 God was most especially kind to Hannah. She had three more sons and two daughters! The boy Samuel stayed at the sanctuary and grew up with God.

For Reflection

Hannah gave Samuel to the priesthood. They dressed him in priestly robes and infused him with righteousness.  Samuel was Hannah's sacrifice. Being blessed with children was God's bestowal.

Pray
Be silent and think about what you have given to God as a response to God's gift to you. 


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Dedicated to the Lord

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

1 Samuel 1:24-26 The Message

23-24 Elkanah said to his wife, “Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!”
So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off!
25-26 They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, “Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that I’m the very woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God? I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God. He’s dedicated to God for life.”
Then and there, they worshiped God.

For Reflection

They would not proceed without stopping to worship God. Here, at the same spot where Hannah had petitioned God for a child, she declares her dedication and dedicates her child to the service of God.

I suppose it is reminiscent of our celebration of Baptism in which we commit ourselves or our children to God and pledge to be obedient to the Lord and to raise up a child. In doing so, we publically declare our obedience to God. We die to our old life and pledge ourselves to a new life in Jesus Christ. We accept the rights and responsibilities as a member of the family in the household of God. 

Pray
Pray that having recognized your divine origin, you will rest in the knowledge that you are living under God's covenant. Pray slowly and in contemplation, let your mind absorb the meaning of your divinity.


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Hannah's Commitment

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

1 Samuel 1:21-24 The Message

21-22 When Elkanah next took his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God, offering sacrifices and keeping his vow, Hannah didn’t go. She told her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll bring him myself and present him before God—and that’s where he’ll stay, for good.”

23-24 Elkanah said to his wife, “Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!”

So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous, sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off!

For Reflection

As God completes what God has begun, Hannah vows to complete her promise to God. God's gift to Hannah will become Hannah's gift to God.

Pray

Pray and complete God's gift of life to you.  Return God's bestowal with righteousness.

Hannah is Childless

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

1 Samuel 1:1-8 The Message 

Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God

1: 1-2 There once was a man who lived in Ramathaim. He was descended from the old Zuph family in the Ephraim hills. His name was Elkanah. (He was connected with the Zuphs from Ephraim through his father Jeroham, his grandfather Elihu, and his great-grandfather Tohu.) He had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not.
3-7 Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God-of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God, she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite.
8 Her husband Elkanah said, “Oh, Hannah, why are you crying? Why aren’t you eating? And why are you so upset? Am I not of more worth to you than ten sons?”

For Reflection

As though yearning to bear children and not being able to do so was not enough suffering for Hannah to endure, wives in the village taunted her, and she became miserably self-deprecating. Hannah suffered. Others blamed God for her barrenness -- but not Hannah. Instead of becoming angry with God, Hannah petitioned God for mercy.  What does this story tell you about suffering?

Pray
Pray petitions to God and trust in God's wisdom to lead you out of suffering into the joy of living.


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The Nazarite Vow

Responding To God's Grace

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

God Answers Prayer

Numbers 6:1-5 The Message

Nazirite Vows

6 1-4 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel; tell them, If any of you, man or woman, wants to make a special Nazirite vow, consecrating yourself totally to God, you must not drink any wine or beer, no intoxicating drink of any kind, not even the juice of grapes—in fact, you must not even eat grapes or raisins. For the duration of the consecration, nothing from the grapevine—not even the seeds, not even the skin—may be eaten.
5 “Also, for the duration of the consecration, you must not have your hair cut. Your long hair will be a continuing sign of holy separation to God.

For Reflection

Throughout his writings, Richard Rohr points out that that we humans are a part of God's divine creation.  As such, then, we too, are divine. In Biblical times, some showed their devotedness to their faith by taking a vow of separation from the world. Subsequently, such promise usually was in force for a specified time, and the devotee was expected to follow some rules which were often a visual sign of their vow. Some Christians in modern times also take similar vows. Some promises are visibly manifested, and some are not.

Throughout his writings, Richard Rohr points out that that we humans, made in God's image, are inseparable from God's divine creation.  As such, we, too, are divine. So the question is, "How do those of us who recognize our divinity separate ourselves from the common cultures in which we live?

Pray
In your prayer of devotion to God, think about your holiness, your divinity. Confess your desire to be worthy of God's confidence in you. Contemplate in silence those things which mark the human divinity of Jesus. Open your mind to the wonder and beauty of the gift God has given you and all of humanity. Pray that you will be the humble servant of God. Pray and listen to the Christ that lies within you.


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