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.

Your Purpose--to Live for Christ--June 3, 2013


 I cry to you, O God Most High, fulfill your
purpose for me, that with heart and soul
I may heed your every commandment
and love you, serve you.

Only you know how often I stumble--
worse yet, cause others to stumble--
but let me live no longer for myself;
let me live for Christ who died,
whom you raised for us.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 57; 145; 85; 47
Deut. 11:13-19
2 Cor. 5:11-6:2
Luke 17:1-10

Selected Verses

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

Deut. 11:13
If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today--loving the LORD your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul…

2 Cor. 5:15
And [Christ] died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

Luke 17:1
Jesus said to his disciples, "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come!  …"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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