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.

To Walk with Newness in Life--March 24, 2017


Be not far from us when trouble is near
 and there is no one to help, O Lord.
Teach us to listen for your voice,
and to do what you command,
that we may be your people
and you may be our God.

By baptism into death
of our old ways, bury us
 with Christ; then as Christ
was raised from the dead,
let us walk with him in
newness of life. If the
 Son makes us free,
we will be free
indeed.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 22; 148; 105; 130
Jer. 11:1-8, 14-17
Rom. 6:1-11
John 8:33-47

Selected Verses
Ps. 22:11
Do not be far from me,
          for trouble is near
          and there is no one to help.

Jer. 11:3-4
You shall say to [the people of Judah], Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be anyone who does not heed the words of this covenant, which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron-smelter, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you.  So shall you be my people, and I will be your God…

Rom. 6:4
Therefore we have been buried with [Christ Jesus] by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

John 8:36
"…So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.  …"  [Jesus to his critics in the temple]

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