I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

Open, Open Wide for God--Feb. 23, 2017

[From Feb. 24, 2011 archive]

Jesus, as was said of Boaz, your kindness
has not forsaken the living or the dead.

Where your Spirit is, there is freedom—
you have brought us out of Egypt to be free.

Why should we lust after what is not meant for us
instead of enjoying the largess that you provide?

If we open our mouths wide, you will fill them.
Never will your kindness forsake us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 143; 147:12-20; 81; 116
Ruth 2:14-23
2 Cor. 3:1-18
Matt. 5:27-37

Selected Verses
Ps. 81:10
 I am the LORD your God,
            who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
            Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

Ruth 2:20a
Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he [Boaz] by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!”

2 Cor. 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Matt. 5:28
“…But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  …”  [Jesus to the crowds]


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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