Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lenten devotional 2-27-09

www.HopeandHelpCenter.org

Here is your daily Lenten meditation devotion. If you find it inspirational, we hope you will pass it along to your family and friends.

February 27th
John 1:35-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, 'Look, here is the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, 'What are you looking for?' They said to him, 'Rabbi' (which translated means Teacher), 'where are you staying?' He said to them, 'Come and see.' They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is translated Anointed ). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, 'You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas' (which is translated Peter).

It seems that we often try to find our own ways for bringing Christliness into our lives, while at other times we may have the way pointed out for us. In today's reading Jesus' first two followers were directed to him by John the Baptist.

To follow Jesus so wholeheartedly must have been a tremendous act of faith for them. How many of us could make such an instantaneous decision? Yet, nearly every one of us pursues many things through faith, whether that faith be simple or complex, as perhaps a moment of merely trusting in the divine presence, or else through longer periods when things may not be running so smoothly.

The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Hitch your wagon to a star," implying that we can indeed link up with a force superior to our individual resources. For us to renew our commitment to a faith-based empowerment will in so many ways inspire and vitalize our Lenten journey, bringing us closer to our own day of resurrection. tr

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