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.

How Could You Fulfill Your Purpose?--July 1, 2013


 Saul, though head and shoulders taller than anyone else,
out of fear tried to hide himself among the baggage.

Peter, when his teacher-friend was most in need,
tried to hide his discipleship from the crowd.

Saul, that scholar well trained in the law,
approved when Stephen was stoned.

How did you manage to fulfill your
purpose for people like these?

 So God Most High, could
you fulfill it for us?

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 57; 145; 85; 47
1 Sam. 10:17-27
Acts 7:44-8:1a
Luke 22:52-62

Selected Verses

Ps. 57:2
 I cry to God Most High,
          to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

1 Sam. 10:22
So they inquired again of the LORD, “Did the man [Saul] come here?” and the LORD said, “See, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”

Acts 7:60-8:1a
Then [Stephen] knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”  When he had said this, he died.  And Saul approved of their killing him.

Luke 22:61
The Lord turned and looked at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times.”

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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