Genesis 40:1-23
Psalms 40, 54, 51
1 Cor 3:16-23
Mark 2:13-22
In a society like ours that values personal liberty and choice — including harmful choices, for that matter — Paul’s question in today’s epistle carries some fairly loaded implications: “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells within you?”
In particular, Paul’s question points to the idea that, despite the many tools we employ to try to justify our actions, self-destructive behavior isn’t merely self-destructive—it’s God-destructive.
As we continue on our journey of prayer, introspection and self-cleansing this Lententide, I invite you to revisit the difficult questions or choices that you may have been putting aside in recent days. Let’s face it: we all have a nagging itch or wound somewhere that yearns to be scratched or bandaged, no matter how much we try to ignore it. By opening up ourselves to God in our weakness, we can unlock the door to his healing and transformative power in our lives.
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Amen.
The Collect for Today:
Lord Christ, our eternal Redeemer, grant us such fellowship in your sufferings, that, filled with your Holy Spirit, we may subdue the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit to you, and at the last attain to the glory of your resurrection; who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
