31 January 2026 - asleep in the boat

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.

We too sometimes encounter storms that cause us to fear, if not for our lives, at least for our identities, and our ability to maintain our way of life. And this happens regardless of whether or not we are where we are because we listened to Jesus say, "Let us cross to the other side". Following him was not only no guarantee of smooth sailing, but seemed to be the main factor that led us to the place where the storm occurred. The fact, frequently confirmed by life experience, that Jesus does not lead us around stormy weather, may cause us to suspect that either he is not all-knowing, and therefore didn't see it coming, or not all-powerful, and therefore unable to do anything about it. We know, of course, that he was not directly at fault, that creation is still fallen, awaiting "freedom from its bondage to corruption" and "the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (see Romans 8:18-25). But what happens to our faith in the times when Jesus appears impotent before such forces? Do we lose our ability to believe that such a redemption is really on the horizon?

Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

The fact that the storms of life leave Jesus unruffled does not at first inspire in us great confidence. Rather, it leaves us indignant, as though he does not understand what we are enduring. And yet, he is with us in the boat. He is enduring the same storm. He is simply so rooted in his Father's love that the storm cannot overcome his peace. From his perspective, the fact that we are terrified is the surprising thing. He wonders, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?". And we must concede, that in this sense of the word, we must not yet have it, not like that, or to that degree. However, even in spite of the disciples' lack of faith, their fear was unfounded because they were together with Jesus since they had obeyed his word. He himself would ensure they were able to cross to the other side as he commanded. 

What, then? Ought they have been indifferent to the storm and the sinking of the ship? Should they all having been asleep while the ship met an untimely end? Part of the difficultly was that they did have to engage with circumstances that were being their ability to control. We can hardly blame them for wanting Jesus to intervene. But their fear was actually a further manifestation of the storm itself, not only outside now, but inside themselves as well. It meant there was more for Jesus to rebuke when he rebuked the wind and the sea. He had to speak calm into the hearts of his disciples as well. 

They could, however, have interpreted the situation differently. They could have realized from the fact of Jesus being a sleep that they had nothing to fear. Perhaps they themselves would have been able to let the peace of the sleeping Christ work through them to calm the storm. But even if they had to wake him up, they would have been able to do so calmly, without the risk of rash responses and bad decisions to fear brings.

“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

This is what we can call the high Christology of the Gospel of Mark. They knew, and Mark, wants us to know, that there was only one whom the wind and sea obey. Only of God was it said, "You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them" (see Psalm 89:9). Who, then, was Jesus? The implied answer, while unstated, was obvious.

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
Nathan answered David: “The LORD on his part has forgiven your sin:
you shall not die.

Sometimes the storms we face are temptation, or even the consequences of our own sin. At such times especially we need to trust in the Lord to deliver us. Precisely because our storms cannot harm him he is positioned perfectly to deliver us, to reawaken his divine power within us, and speed us on our way to the far side of the sea.

Audrey Assad - How Can I Keep From Singing?

 

30 January 2026 - starting small

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

Although we can try to create good conditions for growth, we cannot directly bring it about through our efforts. We want to ensure, as much as possible, that the soil is good and deep, that there aren't too many rocks or thorns to interfere. We can, perhaps, water it and fertilize it. But beyond that, anything we do is more likely to interfere with growth than to assist it. We have to, at least in some measure, leave it alone and trust in God's process and timing. There is an implication that, if we forget this, we will be distressed by the fact that much of spiritual progress is unseen and hidden, and that this will prompt us to take actions that are unhelpful or even harmful. When we don't get results on demand we will be forced to reckon with the reality that it isn't all up to us. We must learn to do the things we know to do and then surrender the whole project into the hands of God.

It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.

The Kingdom itself, when still a seed, seemed unlikely to grow enough to realize all of the covenant promises of God. Jesus, the grain of wheat that died to give life, did not seem sufficient to address the major challenges that faced humanity in general or Israel in particular. Neither did his disciples or the results of their early work seem so impressive that anyone could have anticipated the fruit they would bear in the future. The implication of this parable is somewhat similar to the previous one. We should not be discouraged by the way things look early on. But the nuance is different. We should not be afraid to attempt things, even if they are small. We cannot predict the way little things done with love may one day change the world. This is a call to excellence in small matters. But a corollary is that we ought to stop problematic behavior will it is still small, and sin while it is still venial. 

At the turn of the year, when kings go out on campaign,
David sent out Joab along with his officers
and the army of Israel,
and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.
David, however, remained in Jerusalem.

David's failure to go with army, as was expected of kings, started off as something that seemed small. But it gradually snowballed as he next failed to keep custody of his eyes in the presence of Bathsheba and from their went on to become an adulterer and a murderer. It is fortunate for him and for us that the good seed of the Kingdom was ultimately God's project, else those events cause us to imagine that the project had failed. But the seed was still there, growing, as David proved later through his heartfelt repentance.

So, in summary, the lessons are, 1) never give up because of how things look, 2) don't neglect good things just because they seem too small to make an impact, and 3) don't dally with sin, even if it appears relatively innocuous at first. The payoff of faithful is small things is too good to miss.

But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade

The largest of plants that puts forth its branches for is the Church, which provides shelter for all the birds of the world, including ourselves. But in mysterious ways, everything done with love and faithfulness helps to facilitate the growth, as we ourselves become branches on the vine, living stones in the sacred temple of the Body of Christ.

Newsboys - Secret Kingdom

 

29 January 2026 - hidden to be made visible

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; 
nothing is secret except to come to light.

The teachings of Jesus are in some way hidden when we first encounter them. From the interpretation of a specific parable, all the way up to the truth of his identity, nothing about him is obvious in a superficial way. There is nothing about him that so overwhelms us that we can't deny or ignore him. But if all of this is at first hidden, it is only so that it may be revealed. The more we pay humble attention to the parables the more their meaning becomes evident. The more we allow Jesus to reveal himself to us the more we become convinced that he is the Christ, the Son of God. Thus the more we have the more we are given. 

One reason the teachings of Jesus are not overwhelming obvious is that he wants us to respond to him in freedom, not from compulsion. Yes, it is genuine rock solid truth we discover. But he does not bludgeon us into compliance with undeniable demonstrative proofs. We only come to know the truth if we open ourselves to it. This cooperation with the truth is part of why knowing it has the power to set us free, since our wills are implicated in how we come to know it. Yet it is important to recognize that although we first encounter the truth in a hidden form it is not meant to remain hidden. It is not meant to remain an obscure secret that provides an advantage only to those in the know. It is a truth that has its full effect when it is known. It is light that is meant to illuminate. We might go so far as to say that the truth is already hidden enough in its nature without any help on our part, and that we ought, therefore, to do all that we can to make it known, that the light of Christ may shine.

Take care what you hear.
The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, 
and still more will be given to you.

Knowing the truth isn't automatic. Everyone has ears, but not all use them to truly hear what Jesus wants to tell us. Five different people might have five different levels of understanding based on whether or the degree to which they take care what they hear.  But can't we somehow sense that the truth Jesus longs to impart is somehow different from any other, that it is uniquely worthy of our attention, that, in fact, no one ever spoke as he does (see John 7:46)? There are other secrets and conspiracies in the world that purport to contain hidden truths. But only the truth that Jesus offers has the power to set us free. Only his teaching shines with the inner luminous intelligibility that comes only from being spoken by the voice of Truth himself. This means, at least, that when we struggle with his teachings, and his hiddenness in our world, we should not be scandalized, but should instead take on a posture of receptive listening, ready at any moment for his light to break through.

Dan Schutte - Like Cedars They Shall Stand

 

28 January 2026 - to hear and understand

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

"The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven."

Many the parables seemed too simple and straightforward to have much value. Rather than allowing their meaning to be gradually revealed, listeners would be tempted instead harden their hearts. Perhaps they imagined that their surface level understanding was exhaustive. Or perhaps they didn't consider it to be worth thinking about enough to even understand superficially. The parables of Jesus were definitely the sort of teaching tool that required one to be childlike in order to derive value. 

Jesus said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?

Understanding this parable required the same humble disposition that would be required for any parable of Jesus. This was an attitude that, while not content with the superficial, did not attempt to solve everything with human cleverness. It was, rather, content to allow itself to be led by Jesus as he helped his hearers to see ever deeper levels of luminous meaning contained within. Jesus desires us to approach his word with the same humility, allowing him to lead us as we strive to grow in understanding.

Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, 
and the birds came and ate it up.

In the proclamation of the kingdom there was no insufficiency of seed that could be blamed for the lack of growth. Rather it was the conditions on the receiving end that had the potential to pose problems. Jesus could provide endless parables, but insufficient interest would mean they would go in one ear and out the other. In other cases, even those willing to receive the parables one time might later find that they had insufficient roots because they didn't appreciate their true depth. One might even be able to answer all likely questions about a parable in such a case but still find it unable to avail them in the face of tribulation or persecution. In order for a parable to achieve that level of spiritual utility required more than a superficial understanding. There are many forces that can interfere with our ability to digest and internalize the parables. They stem from both excessive fear and excessive desire. Anything we value more than God can prevent us from remaining still and silent long enough for the growth of the seed to be accomplished within us. If we imagine ourselves pulled this way, jostled that way, by all the various emotions we experience, we might concede that we would not make for an easy growth environment for any sort of plant life.

The growth environment that the seed wants is similar to the rest promised to David, through Nathan, in God's covenant promise. This growth environment, this spiritual greenhouse, is the Church of the New Covenant, or at least, at can be, if we know how to avail ourselves of the stillness, light, and living water, found therein.

I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, 
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you.

Housefires - Come To The River

 

27 January 2026 - supernatural family planning

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.

For Mary this was probably something similar to the finding of Jesus in the temple, in which she again had to accept that the business of his Father had priority over the normal demands of family life. Most people put into such a position would take it personally. But Mary most likely remained calm, reflected, and grew in deeper understanding of her son and his mission. We can even imagine that she found joy in the fact that Jesus trusted her enough to accept it, and perhaps to help his brethren to accept it as well.

But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."

Hypothetically, who was closer to Jesus? Those relatives that thought that he was out of his mind and tried to silence him and bring him home? Or rather, the crowds, who, though not related, were open to learning from his message? It was the later who were acting more like true brothers and sisters of Jesus, true sons and daughters of his heavenly Father. It was faith that was to be the basis of a new international spiritual family in the form of the Church Jesus would establish. And this spiritual family, the kingdom of God on earth, had to take priority in the lives of its members, even over the natural good of family bonds. People needed to know that when the demands of family conflicted with what they were being asked to do by God it was God's will that they ought to choose. Thus Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (see Luke 14:26).

"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."

We know that Mary was the mother of Jesus in a double sense, since she was always obedient to the will of God. She gave her fiat and then continued to give it throughout her life, not trying to find an alternative to the prophecy of Simeon about a sign that would be contradicted and a sword that would pierce her own side, and even remaining with Jesus as he endured the cross. From the crowds we can learn something about what it means to be a spiritual sibling of Jesus. But from his mother we have a masterclass in making Jesus and his Father's will the center of our lives. Her connection to Jesus was so close that she became known as the new ark of God. Therefore let us dance before the presence of the Lord, the presence that she continues to bring to us, with joy and abandon. Let us come together in the feast of our spiritual family, not "a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake", but the Eucharist, the joint gift of Mary and Jesus to us.

David Ruis - We Will Dance

 

26 January 2026 - power, love, and self-control

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, 
“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and
“By the prince of demons he drives out demons.”

The scribes resorted to a tactic that we can recognize, as it is still common in our own time. Since they could not win arguments against Jesus as a teacher, and since they could not deny the positive effects of his miraculous deeds, they resorted to character assassination. They hoped that people would believe that the only way to have such power was to receive it from the prince of demons. Perhaps the crowds would at least become suspicious that Jesus was too good to be true and that there was something sinister below the surface. If those who heard them accepted this line of reasoning they would have the additional benefit of feeling clever themselves, of not having been taken in by an elaborate charade. It isn't too hard to dissuade people of something that seems to good to be true. But what about when it is true? How can people like ourselves, who are naturally self-protective and defensive, supposed to recognize it?

Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, 
“How can Satan drive out Satan?
If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house is divided against itself, 
that house will not be able to stand.

A genuinely rotten tree cannot bear good fruit. Genuinely good deeds ought never be undermined for that sake of political gain, as the scribes attempted. It is easy enough to manufacture the appearance of goodness. But then, in that case, the appropriate thing to challenge is not the actions but the misleading appearance. 

This is all a little bit more complicated since we ourselves are and live among people not wholly good and not wholly rotten. We do some good, some bad, and probably some good things that appear bad, and some bad things that appear good. This means that when discerning the actions of people that aren't Jesus we can't necessarily assume that one good fruit means the tree is sound. Yet it is still actions and not appearances by which we ought to judge. 

Jesus calls attention to the precarious nature of our position of being divided in heart and mind. It is not an easy position to sustain since we will be working against ourselves in all that we do, being pulled one way, then another. Satan is effective is his malice because he never does anything truly good, and is always about the business of trying to spoil God's good creation. To the degree that we are a house divided we are subject to his power and manipulation. Freeing ourselves from his grasp is never something that is naturally within the scope of our strength as human beings. We need to trust in the one strong enough to set us free.

But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property 
unless he first ties up the strong man.

Jesus was the one who bound the devil and plundered his property, that is, us, by his cross and resurrection. Whatever claim the devil had on us due to sin was revoked by the redemption wrought by our Lord. Because this is so, we ought not linger in the darkness. We must not be like the scribes, so afraid of salvation that we mischaracterize it as darkness. If we refuse to recognize the possibility of salvation, if we close our eyes to the saving power of God, then the Holy Spirit will not enter were he is not welcomed, where he is, in fact, blasphemed, not by our words necessarily, but with willful opposition issuing from the hardness of our hearts.

Having learned from Paul and others, Timothy and Titus were examples of men with undivided hearts. But such hearts require maintenance and regular upkeep. It is not enough to not blaspheme the Spirit. We must stir up the Spirit within our hearts. This is necessary in order to avoid temptation, such as that of cowardice in the face of hardship. When the reality of the Spirit we have received, "of power and love and self-control" is active in our lives, we will progress, not on our own strength, but "with the strength that comes from God".

Hillsong Worship - Stronger

 

25 January 2026 - the people in darkness have seen a great light

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles,
the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,
on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death
light has arisen.

It had been a long time since the people in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali had been taken into exile in Assyria. No doubt they had come to think of the darkness of that exile as a permanent darkness, and of themselves as forgotten by God. Yet, by beginning his mission where he did, Jesus signaled that they had not been forgotten, that they were not abandoned or forsaken. One question we should consider is what the mission of Jesus had to do with that exile. In what way did what he desired to accomplish assuage or address the wound left by Assyria? It did not seem that the mission of Jesus did or could bring exiles back from distant lands. So we should not miss the significance that it was there that Jesus announced that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. His plan was not to restore Israel at a national level, but to gather around himself a new and spiritual Israel that would eventually include descendants of all of the scattered tribes. But, due to the consequences of sin, the fruit of this new kingdom would be something greater than what was lost. The way that Israel had been scattered and intermingled with the Gentiles meant that in order to gather Israel the Gentiles too would reap what we may call collateral benefit.

For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters,
by Chloe’s people, that there are rivalries among you.

We can see that Paul understood the unity of the kingdom as one of its central aspects. For this reason he instructed the Ephesians to be "eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (see Ephesians 4:3). It was for this reason that he was so critical of rivalries and discord in the Church. He saw that, as the Body of Christ, they had a new and deeper basis for unity than ever before. Where it had been possible for some tribes to be taken into exile it was metaphysically impossible for the body of Christ to truly be divided. Thus we say in the creed that the Church, in addition to be catholic, holy, and apostolic, is also one. But the Church is also different from Israel in that it requires, not living in a specific place, but thinking and act in a new and spiritual way. Those who perpetuated rivalries were failing to live up to this standard, failing to fully live within the Body of Christ to the degree that they did not share the heart of Jesus for unity. 

Is Christ divided?
Was Paul crucified for you?
Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

We tend celebrate the idea of unity and excuse ourselves from the discussion about rivalries. But it is not so easy. There are some positions that are fundamentally incompatible with the teachings of Christ. In such cases we are not meant to look the other way and pretend nothing is wrong. But more than that there is a wide diversity of acceptable opinion on matters both political and theological within the Church. We must hold fast to the truth while not creating divisions that ought not exist. The key to doing so is to maintain the centrality of Christ in our hearts and minds. He is the basis of our unity. His grace is our only hope for maintaining it. For that matter, he is our only hope of restoring the many instances in which that unity was broken, in particular, our separated brethren of other Christian denominations.

“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

We can see from the calling of the first disciples that the kingdom of heaven was meant to be a swelling current that gathered people together around Jesus. First the people themselves came to him, and then they helped bring more along with them. Step one was Jesus. Step two was becoming a fisher of men. But not just any gathering would do, nor would any kind of unity suffice. Only the kingdom was enough because it was Jesus himself who brought light to the world, light which was otherwise absent. Light was not merely a pleasant metaphor in this case. It was in fact the only lasting antidote to sin, suffering, and ultimately even to the darkness of death. Only thus can we truly say that "on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen".

What is the upshot of the saving light of the Lord for us, or what difference should it make in our lives? How do we know if we are abiding in his light? Judging by the words of the psalmist we may infer that the more we truly recognize the light of Christ the less any lesser things will have power to make us afraid.

DC Talk - In The Light

Songs In His Presence - His Name Will Be Called

 

24 January 2026 - family matters

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, 
for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

The relatives of Jesus heard about the crowds and about the adverse effects his popularity was having on his life. Unable even to eat? He must Be in over his head, they thought, swept up in something that had become too big to manage. Had he come to believe in what must have been his own hype? After all, they were his relatives. They had known him, and thought they knew him. They continued to assume that he was normal. Others with less intimate connections to him might imagine him to be something more, but his relatives knew, or thought they knew, that he was no different from they. 

If Jesus was misunderstood by people who thought they knew him before he began his mission it is likely that Christians will be misunderstood, first, upon their initial conversion, and then again and again as they deepen their commitment and take Jesus and his Gospel more and more seriously. The paradigm of normal, the only one the world apart from Jesus has with which to work, is not applicable to the followers of Jesus. A fundamental idea of the Gospel is that the world was not OK as Jesus found it. He came because it needed saving. And he extends that mission into our own day through us. But people who haven't accepted the idea that there is something fundamentally wrong with the world (though, who could miss it?) often take offense at the idea that it needs fixing. People have even more reason to be offended by us than by Jesus himself, because we are clearly flawed, imperfect in all of the same ways the world is imperfect. How could we possibly claim to help? If anything, it is probably even harder for anyone to imagine that this claim could be valid in spite of the flaws of its advocates. 

Knowing that we will be misunderstood and even opposed as followers of Jesus is ought not cause us to give up in advance. Rather, we should set to work with realistic expectations, so that we are not surprised or deterred when we encounter such results. People may try to stop us, even thinking they are acting for our benefit. But we must persist. We must be willing to be seen as fools for Christ if and when the situation demands.

We may well lose friends, not necessarily through any hostility on their part, but simply because they no longer understand us or our priorities. They may not regard us with hostility. And yet our different goals may cause us to drift apart. But part of the promise of the Gospel is friendship in a new and deeper form, first with Jesus, and then through him with his other friends. Such friendship is even sweeter than that between David and Jonathan.

“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother!
most dear have you been to me;
more precious have I held love for you than love for women.

Thus is the promise of Jesus fulfilled that "everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold" (see Matthew 19:29). We recognize that when we do leave family or friends we are responding to the love that Jesus himself first showed us. Knowing this we can be reassured that nothing truly important is ever lost when we take Jesus at his word.

Passion - Heart Abandoned

 

23 January 2026 - consider your calling

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted 
and they came to him.

Jesus was like a new Moses or a new Solomon, summoning these Twelve in order to be the foundations of a new and spiritual Israel. They were not merely representatives of the twelve tribes, since membership in God's covenant community was now going to transcend the tribal and the national. The Israel of the Old Covenant had been specially chosen and blessed with favor in order to be a light to the nations. It is important to recognize that it was not chosen based on any particular merit.

It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples (see Deuteronomy 7:7).

Neither did he choose the Blessed Virgin on the basis of some accomplishments of hers. Neither did he summon the Twelve for their particular skills or competencies. 

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; (see First Corinthians 1:25-27).

God was pleased to make sure that his own power was evident, working through human weakness. Thus, those who recognized it knew they were not being taken in by merely human creativity or cleverness. They were not being persuaded by savvy business sense. From the outside, the Church seldom looked very impressive, was always replete with very human flaws and failings. And yet there was something within the Church that had the power to transform lives. There was something protecting the Church in order that the teaching of Jesus and the Apostles would remain available to all throughout the generations. The foundations chosen by Jesus were entirely natural. He wouldn't have needed to look far to find more educated or erudite men to carry his message to the world. But from the Twelve he did choose he established a supernatural edifice against which even the gates of hell could not prevail.

The key thing for Apostles to be successful was that they remember why they were called, "that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons". They had to remember that he was the source of their ability to be effective in spreading the Gospel, he the vine, and they the branches. They had to prioritize his word above their own words and seek to impart the spiritual freedom that he longed to give. They had received the authority of Jesus himself, but not in order to use it for their own projects. The authority of Jesus was always for the sake of service, always meant to be ordered to salvation.

Look here at this end of your mantle which I hold.
Since I cut off an end of your mantle and did not kill you, 
see and be convinced that I plan no harm and no rebellion.

Since those anointed by God represent more than they are in themselves it behooves us to demonstrate respect and even reverence toward them. This doesn't mean we look away from grievous failures or turn a blind eye to criminal behavior. But it does mean, at least, that we don't allow the fact the ministers within God's Church are human to bother us excessively. They are human. They do have faults. They are not perfect. But they are the Lord's anointed, and divine power works through them, such that, without them, we would be, at best, deeply impoverished. We have to trust that the Lord is still able to work through human weakness, even when they weakness is lamentably familiar. After all, if he can no longer do so, what hope do we have that he can work through us? Our hope is the fact that we too have been called and chosen and anointed. This divine election really can allow us to transcend our very real limits, that all our faults and failures might not prevent us from living our lives for the glory of God.

Bernadette Farrell - God Has Chosen Me

 

22 January 2026 - popularity contested

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

“Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

The extreme effectiveness of both David and Jesus on their respective missions brought, at least at first, more hardship than personal benefit. For both, it aroused the envy of the powerful.  Jesus was no longer able to move about freely due to the adoring crowds, and was even at risk of being crushed by the effects of his popularity. David was also prevented by his popularity from moving about freely, instead being forced to hide from the angry king. In the case of David, Saul was provoked into plotting his death. So too with Jesus and the Pharisees.

It is clear in both cases that the popularity they experienced was not worth pursuing for its own sake. Those who were jealous of that popularity missed the degree to which it was a hassle. And yet they desired it because they feared that without it their own positions might become irrelevant. The popularity of both David and Jesus might well lead them to the kingship. Yet they only possessed this popularity because of their faithfulness to their mission, not because they sought it for its own sake. We can see this clearly in the ongoing fidelity of David to Saul while he was king. And we can see it in the way that Jesus did not want anyone to make known the Son of God, lest others accept a skewed vision of what that meant. Because they weren't obsessed with their own status they were ultimately far more trustworthy than their opponents who obsessed about theirs.

Success and popularity are not goals worth pursuing for their own sake. In reality, the tradeoffs are often not worth whatever payoffs there may be. Of course we do want to be successful, since the alternative, being a failure is highly undesirable. And we do want people to like us, since that too is better than the alternative. But when we begin to obsess about either of these as ends in themselves we become twisted. We become both harder to love and less effective in our other ambitions. Maybe if Saul had been a little less proud he would have been a little more effective on the field of battle, though that is speculative. Instead of focusing on these lesser goods we should make the mission our top priority, just as did both David and Jesus. We should seek first the kingdom and let God add whatever else besides that we may need. Seeking the kingdom first implies doing what we ought to do for others without being obsessed about our own reward, just as Jesus did with the crowds.

He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.

Elevation Worship - See A Victory

 

21 January 2026 - confirmation bias

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.

Can we even imagine that the Pharisees were actually looking for an (in their view) improperly timed miracle in order to accuse Jesus? We have already seen that Jesus made the case that the his mission take precedence over the normal demands of the sabbath. Rather than taking that argument to heart the Pharisees naturally assumed that this would be an easy place to find fault. They had made up their mind about Jesus in advance and were now looking for confirmation for their bias. It sounds so extreme as to be unrelatable. And yet we too are sometimes guilty of excessively rigid thinking supported by confirmation bias. The Pharisees had the law and the prophets to guide them. Yet they twisted those teachings and inverted the hierarchy of priorities contained therein. It is true that, in Jesus, we have the fullness of revelation, whereas what the Pharisees had was partial.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son (see Hebrews 1:1-2).

Yet the fact that the Church possesses the fullness of revelation does not mean that her individual members don't twist bits and pieces of it to suit their liking or serve their fancy. In fact, it is easy to succumb to such temptations, since distracting ourselves with the business of others is much easier than focusing on our own growth in holiness. It is easier to exempt ourselves from obligations and instead act as though our gossip about others is accomplishing something useful.

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies (see Second Thessalonians 3:11).

We sometimes only see the bad done by our opponents, as the Pharisees were able to ignore the intention of Jesus to save a life. The were in fact so fixated on destroying a life, that of Jesus, that it didn't enter into their moral calculus. They were only willing to acknowledge facts that supported their preexisting bias. Thus, their priorities had become inverted. The protection of life, which should have been at the top of their priorities, was now of less importance to them than being seen to be correct. Without consciously realizing it, they had, in effect, made themselves idols, and were trying to make sure they were the ones who received worship, in the form of popularity, rather than Jesus, the true God, worthy of all praise.

In order to pursue the truth we need to hold our own self-image more loosely. We need to be like John the Baptist, ready to decrease so that Jesus might increase. We need to be willing to be wrong so that we can grow in truth. We need to be willing to have imperfect behavior corrected so that we can grow in holiness. It is insufficient to approach these challenges with a negative self-image, however, since that would make us likely to give up. What we need is courage, courage like that shown by David against Goliath.

You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts

Maranatha! Music - The Battle Belongs To The Lord

 

20 January 2026 - in grained beliefs

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand,
anointed him in the midst of his brothers;
and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David. 

Although Solomon was, in a way, the son promised to David, it was true that he was only a partial fulfillment of that promise, and ultimately died in a disgrace. Jesus was the true son of David, the one on whom the Spirit descended at the baptism and remained throughout his life, the one who would truly fulfill God's promises to Israel, and through Israel, to the world.

Have you never read what David did
when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?

Just as David was destined to be king by the edict of the Lord through Samuel, but was opposed by Saul and his men, so too was Jesus destined to reign as the King of kings and Lord of lords, but was opposed by the Pharisees. This is like what was described in the second Psalm:

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us (see Psalm 2:1-3).

Jesus, even more than David, was on a mission of divine origin. Just as David and his men were permitted to eat the bread of offering for the sake of their mission, the disciples of Jesus eating grain on the sabbath was permitted for the sake of his. The spirit indeed rushed on David from the time of his anointing, as we read in the first reading, but Jesus was the one to whom the Father gave the Spirit without measure (see John 3:33). What David and Solomon both represented in limited and fragmentary ways Jesus perfectly fulfilled. He was, as he said elsewhere, one greater than Solomon. As he himself said he was even greater than the temple, the service of which was itself a valid reason to set aside the usual demands of the sabbath.

Then he said to them,
“The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.
That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Jesus, unlike the Pharisees, understood the reason that God had established the sabbath, since he was, as it were, in on the decision. The Pharisees looked at the sabbath and only saw the negatives, every possible 'Thou shalt not' that could be imagined in its regard. They saw the rules as arbitrary, useful for virtue signaling for themselves and damaging the reputation of their opponents. This was actually something that began as a good impulse but that had gone horrible awry. They correctly perceived that God cared deeply about seeing the sabbath honored. But he did not wish to see it honored in the way these Pharisees attempted to do so. He longed to see its true meaning fulfilled. Thus the rest required for the sabbath was meant to create the space for the flourishing of relationship between God and man. And since the mission of Jesus was, in a fundamental way, about restoring that relationship, the sabbath could only become what it was meant to be if he first did what he was meant to do.

The sabbath was not made for man in the sense that the Pharisees could take the idea and use it to criticize the ministry of Jesus. It was made for man fully alive in the sense meant by Irenaeus. It was made for man as measured by Jesus, the perfect man, who alone could unlock its true meaning, and who alone can give the true rest that was its promise.

Phil Wickham - House Of The Lord

 

19 January 2026 - majoring in the minors

Today's Readings
(Audio)

“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,
but your disciples do not fast?”

We hear questions derived from similar motivations all of the time. And, if we aren't careful, we perpetuate the problem ourselves. We take something that is frequently genuinely good like fasting and then make a universal law out of it. We take things that are admirable and treat them as though they are required in all circumstances. We establish a rigid order of wonderful practices, but with no room for the Holy Spirit.

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?
As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

That Jesus considered fasting to be a genuine good cannot be in doubt since he himself stated that his disciples too would practice it in the future. But he also considered feasting to be good, and, at times, so fitting as to be virtually required. Such was that particular moment when the bridegroom of Israel had at least come to his bride.

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (see Isaiah 62:5)

The revelation brought by Jesus had to be understood on its own terms. The Old Covenant was meant to point toward the time when Jesus would come to fulfill both the law and the prophets. Now that he himself was in in fact in the process of doing so the ceremonies and rituals of the Old were meant to give way to the New Covenant he established. Eventually kosher laws, the Jewish liturgical calendar, the requirement of circumcision, all of these had to give way to make room for a Church begin enough for both Jews and Gentiles.

Good, we think. We've never been at risk of insisting on requiring the practices of the Old Testament. And yet we too stand at risk of trying to fit Jesus into our own preexisting paradigms. This happens when we make our own ideologies primary, and we try to make Jesus and Christianity fit in as best we can. We can see how those in the Liberation Theology movement made him out to be a Marxist. But, closer to home, we do tend to try to fit Jesus into the mold of one political party or another, rather than molding our political parties in line with his teaching. We even risk taking things that Jesus did teach and giving them disproportionate importance, as though he only talked about the social Gospel, or alternatively, as though he was only interested in abstract and spiritual matters. Any time we try to take the hierarchy of goods into our own hands we run this risk. We should instead always be prepared to subject our own apparently good ideas to the standard supplied by revelation.

I have brought back Agag, and I have destroyed Amalek under the ban.
But from the spoil the men took sheep and oxen,
the best of what had been banned,
to sacrifice to the LORD their God in Gilgal.

King Saul thought he had a better idea than God, one which he could plausible state was for the sake of the service of God. These things he was supposed to destroy he would instead offer as sacrifices to the Lord. What could be wrong with that? In this case, virtually everything. Partial obedience in this way was actually disobedience.

Does the LORD so delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the command of the LORD?

The point was not about the things themselves, things which Saul implicitly gave primacy. The point was putting the Lord first, which is precisely what Saul failed to do. He learned the hard way that he did not have a better idea than God about how God ought to be served. The Lord, for his part, then rejected Saul as ruler in order to find someone who more closely shared his heart. David was certainly an improvement. But it was not until Jesus that we would see someone live out perfect obedience to God. Only the priorities of Jesus were perfectly focused on the Father. Thus he is our only viable source if we want to get such things right ourselves.

I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.

Matt Maher - Isaiah 61

 

18 January 2026 - i did not know him

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

I did not know him

However close John was to his cousin Jesus, it was not enough for him to fully grasp his identity. He didn't proclaim Jesus to be the one who was to come just because he seemed, from John's experience, to be a good candidate. Rather, it was on the basis of prophetic revelation that the full extent of the identity of Jesus was revealed. Thus, unlike those people who grew up alongside Jesus in Nazareth, John was able to realize that he was more than just the son of Mary.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

When we hear what John said about Jesus we recognize that it was more than flesh and blood could reveal. The fact that he would, in himself, sum up the entire Old Testament sacrificial system, reveal its true meaning, and at last fulfill the purpose toward which it pointed, was not something one could have guessed, however close his proximity to Jesus as he grew up. Those sacrifices pointed toward the need to make of oneself an offering. They were reminders of the fact the people could not practice the unfailing obedience that alone was compatible with God's absolute holiness. Jesus was at last one who was able to offer himself in the obedience as a perfect sacrifice to the Father. But he did not do this merely as a substitute, as animal sacrifices were thought to be. He did it, first for us, so that, by his grace, he could do it within us.

‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me
because he existed before me.’

Even had their been a merely human individual capable of offering the Father perfect obedience it could not have had this transformative effect on humanity. It was, therefore, insufficient. Had Abraham not been restrained by an angel and gone on to offer Isaac as a sacrifice it would have had no lasting effect on human nature. He could have offered something like a perfect sacrifice, but he did not have the power to make that sacrifice universally available. And in this case, that would miss the whole point. It was not anything unless it could be everything. It wasn't about the destruction of anyone, however perfect. It was about the redemption of all, something that could only be accomplished by Jesus himself. Jesus was the one who existed, not only before John, not only before Abraham (see John 8:48-59), but before all creation. He was the lamb slain since the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8). Scripture tells us that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8). It is for this reason that the perfect sacrifice of one man can be applied to every human individual, regardless of whether they lived before, during, or after his earthly life.

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (see Hebrews 7:25).

How does the sacrifice of the lamb of God become efficacious in our own lives? It is precisely through our baptism, in which we receive the Holy Spirit and become, like Jesus himself, sons and daughters of God. The Spirit was unleashed upon the world precisely through his gift of himself on the cross for us. It was then that the flow of living water, coming from the very heart of God, was unleashed (see John 7:38-39, John 19:34) . And it has never stopped. It will never dry up or be exhausted. That's what it means to say that the one who is beyond time has entered it in order to transform it, not just in a partial or incomplete project of renovation, but rather, to make all things new.

I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

We share in the identity and destiny of Jesus through our baptism. This means that we too are intended and empowered to live lives of obedient self-gift. It is for this, more than for any more dramatic external effects, that we have been given the gift of the Spirit. It is toward this that all of the many fruits, gifts, and charisms of the Spirit conduce. And it is in this way, by this grace making us to be in this way new creations, that we attain our intended destiny of becoming lights to the nations. Through God's work in us may he draw others, even others from the ends of the earth, to share in his salvation.

 

Matt Maher - Behold The Lamb Of God

 

17 January 2026 - the post-post

Today's Readings
(Audio)

As he passed by, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus,
sitting at the customs post.

If Matthew had been asked the day before about the possibility of leaving his current life to follow a teacher and healer such as Jesus he probably would have considered it an impossibility. He would likely have assumed he would be unable to leave the customs post to which he was so accustomed. In many ways it wasn't an ideal situation. But it was what he knew. It would be hard to even conceive of a situation which would make him radically upend his status quo. Remaining was safe. Any other option that was different and new was fraught with the danger of a thousand different possibilities for failure. That would have been true even without his reputation as a tax collector, which of itself seemed to close almost any open door of possibility. His friends were all tax collectors and sinners. They certainly weren't offering him any drastically new paths. Both his own self-image and his social standing made it impossible for him to imagine any change in his life, even if a part of him might have sometimes wished for it. And yet.

Jesus said to him, “Follow me.”
And he got up and followed Jesus.

When Matthew accepted the invitation from Jesus he implicitly chose to believe Jesus about the possibility of a new and different future. Up to that moment he envisioned a future that would not admit of doubt or change. But when Jesus invited him it really did open up  a whole new world. Someone other than Jesus inviting Matthew to come along for whatever reason could potentially reassure him, that he was wanted, but he would still have had to say no, since the conditions of his reality were fundamentally unaltered. But with the invitation of Jesus his past no longer needed to determine his future. It was something that only Jesus could offer. He didn't need to spell it out. It was all implicit in the invitation.

While he was at table in his house,
many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples;
for there were many who followed him.

The invitation of Jesus had the effect of inverting Matthew's whole life. Previously society and his friends were the ones who determined his identity. Now influence flowed in the other direction, from Jesus, through Matthew, to his friends and the world around him. In choosing to be conformed to Jesus he was no longer conformed to the world around him. He was free in a way he never imagined possible. 

“Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 

Where are we this morning? Are we sitting at a customs post that we that we believe we cannot abandon? Or are we rather like the Pharisees who refused to acknowledge that their lives needed to change, unwilling to accept that there was something better than the level for which they had settled? We get free from such things, not by analyzing our strengths and weaknesses and determining our own action plan, but by listening to the call of Jesus, to sharing a feast with him, and by being willing to taste and see the goodness of the promises he offers.

Newsboys - I Am Free (Who The Son Sets Free)

 

16 January 2026 - to be like who?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Now that you are old,
and your sons do not follow your example,
appoint a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us.

Israel was a nation specially chosen by God, singled out to by his covenant to be a light to the nations. And yet, greater than their desire to embody that destiny was their desire to be like the surrounding nations. Politics was more important to them than their prophetic destiny. The strength of surrounding kings seemed frightfully real while their God seemed more distant. They accepted that a king might not treat them well as individuals or groups, but assumed that he would never neglect the welfare of the nation since to do so was implicitly to neglect his own welfare. 

He will take your sons and assign them to his chariots and horses,
and they will run before his chariot.
He will also appoint from among them his commanders of groups
of a thousand and of a hundred soldiers.

The self-preservation that was natural to earthly kings did not always conduce to the flourishing of the nation. Rather than use their authority for the sake of the population they exploited the population for their own ends. They were not excessively grieved to cause suffering even within the kingdom as long as they remained comfortable. To some extent they often sought popularity, for the sake of self-image, and in order to keep a grasp on power. But this popularity was based more on their ability to keep up a performance rather than on real beneficial results for the people. Even the better kings still had to navigating the conflicting demands of their own desires versus those of the people. God, it was true, had nothing to gain from the people, and made it frightening to rely on one with whom he could not bargain. But he was utterly incapable of being diminished by them as well. His freedom is what made him fully available to act always and only for their good. Their was no chance of him choosing selfishly against them or fearfully to protect himself.

The people, however, refused to listen to Samuel’s warning and said,
“Not so!  There must be a king over us.
We too must be like other nations,
with a king to rule us and to lead us in warfare
and fight our battles.

We can understand their desire to be like the other nations without approving of it. They felt that they had to measure up to the capability of others for violence, lest they live in fear of their own destruction. Even in our own world we often assume that a lack of power is the biggest problem in politics, that if our adversaries have power and we do not than our situation is a lost cause. Without sufficient military strength what is to keep hostile nations from overwhelming us? Without sufficient politic power what is to keep our opponents from suppressing any viewpoint but their own? Do we really believe that God can make a difference otherwise than by giving us power? How would that even work? And yet we know that our God not only can, but that he delights to work through apparent human weakness. As an example, the deleterious political situation in Rome did not prevent the Christianization of the whole world.

After they had broken through,
they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying.
When Jesus saw their faith, he said to him,
“Child, your sins are forgiven.”

How does God cause changes in the world even in spite of the weakness of those through whom he works? He does so primarily by changing individual hearts, rather than by imposing his will from outside on unwilling participants. His is a Kingdom definitionally different from all others since its members are only those who wish to be so. But it is God's own transcendent character that makes it so believable. It must be for our benefit that he acts since he stands to gain nothing himself. And his missionaries embody this by refusing to exploit religion for earthly gains. Paul describes people who misunderstand this when he writes:

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain (see First Timothy 4:-6).

But he goes on to add that "godliness with contentment is great gain". People who experience that contentment have a lot to offer a world that is constantly searching for the one more thing that will finally make it happy, but never arriving.

Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves,
“Why does this man speak that way?  He is blaspheming.
Who but God alone can forgive sins?”

The external problems of our world are relatively easy to solve, at least temporarily. But only God can do the deep inner work that produces lasting results. They had hoped that Jesus would be a messiah in the way they had hoped to have a king. But his reign was to be of a different kind. Precisely because God alone could forgive sins, and because Jesus was himself God, the real problems that had heretofore been unaddressed could finally receive a solution. This solution was not one more temporary victory, but rather salvation, leading to eternal life.

Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.

Hillsong Worship - To Be Like You

 

15 January 2026 - ark enemies

Today's Readings
(Audio) 

Let us fetch the ark of the Lord from Shiloh
that it may go into battle among us
and save us from the grasp of our enemies.

The people didn't understand why the Lord had allowed them to experience defeat at the hands of the Philistines. In response, they decided to take matters into their own hands. If he wouldn't come with them into battle on his own, why, they would force him to come, without first consulting him. This seems like an instance of the phenomenon of religion being co-opted for political goals. It wasn't even necessarily the case that the goals were bad or wrong. They desired to preserve their tribal identity and freedom in the face of opposition from a hostile foreign power. Nevertheless, the involvement of their religion was superficial. First, they wondered why the Lord would allow their circumstances when they hadn't bothered asking him about them until they had already experienced negative outcomes. Second, even after experiencing defeat they didn't actually interact with the Lord meaningfully. Instead, they simply brought the ark, as though it were a sort of magical token that would give them power, rather than the dwelling place of God in their midst. It could not have been the case that this was done with due reverence. God and his presence weren't their primary concern, which was rather that they win the battle that was imminent.

When the ark of the LORD arrived in the camp,
all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth resounded.

The political usage of religion can generate hype and enthusiasm. We feel supremely validated when it seems that even God is on our side. By contrast, when we are primarily concerned to ensure that we are on God's side it necessitates reflection and self-criticism, in order to avoid self-deception by our egos. Such an introspective attitude, one in which individuals are willing to realize they are wrong, is inimical to the mutual hype machine of politics, in which no one will ever concede that mistakes were made, since the political agenda is, to them, unassailable.

The Philistines fought and Israel was defeated;
every man fled to his own tent.
It was a disastrous defeat,
.in which Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers.
The ark of God was captured,
and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were among the dead.

While the hype surrounding the presence of the ark might have seemed to be a useful good in itself in order to rally the forces of Israel for battle it not only didn't help but probably left them in worse shape than they would have been on their own. They imagined they had forced the hand of God in assisting them. When they discovered that they had not they were left high and dry. The hype was an illusion. The only power they had was their own, and it was insufficient. On top of that, the magnitude of the defeat seemed to indicate punishment from the Lord who did not appreciate the way religion had been twisted to other ends that day.

A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said,
“If you wish, you can make me clean.”

In contrast to those who thought they could force God to play on their side and aid with their plan was this leper from today's Gospel reading, who left his ultimate fate in the hands of Jesus. He obviously believed in the goodness of Jesus, in the fact that, all things being equal, a cure was not unlikely. But this did not mean he came before him with a demanding attitude, as though his cure was in fact the most important thing in the world. Even in the instance where the woman touched the hem of the garment of Jesus and received healing without first asking, she was in fact still demonstrating utmost humility before him, since to touch the ark of God's presence more directly was fraught with danger.

“I do will it. Be made clean.”

Perhaps part of the discrepancy is that we often try to force God to do what we imagine we deserve. But when we are humble and open to his will we are able to realize that everything we receive from him are free gifts that we have not earned. Why is the Lord so insistent that we keep this aspect of his blessings in mind? Perhaps it is just that he wants us to recognize what he does for us, not as payment, but as love. 

Songs In His Presence - Prayer Of Augustine

 

14 January 2026 - growing in knowing

Today's Readings
(Audio)

When Samuel went to sleep in his place,
the LORD came and revealed his presence,
calling out as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

A common thread between our readings for today is prayer. Samuel was born into a community that was largely not pursuing an active relationship with God. Revelation of him was uncommon and visions infrequent. We get the impression that if Eli had been more invested in his own relationship with the Lord he would have more quickly recognized the description of Samuel's experiences. But, to his credit, he did eventually discern what was happening, as though drawing on past memories of when his own relationship with the Lord was stronger.

Samuel grew up, and the LORD was with him,
not permitting any word of his to be without effect.

We are meant to understand that this was not a one time encounter that merely set Samuel on a path as an effective prophet. Rather, he was an effective prophet because and to the degree that he continued to revisit the presence of the Lord throughout his life and deepened his connection with him. We might assume that once the Lord decided to make someone a prophet that such a one would no longer need to actively work at developing their relationship with him. But we can see from today's Gospel that even Jesus, who apparently ought to have had no need of it, maintained a regular habit of prayer, even in spite of the fact that he didn't have any convenient free time to dedicate to the practice.

Rising very early before dawn, 
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.

When we are busy our habit of prayer is often the first thing that falls by the wayside. We tell ourselves, not incorrectly, that God will understand, and that we will pick it back up when we have more time. But, first, when we have this attitude, the enemy works to make it seem as though no time is ever convenient again. Second, it is harder to start again than it would have been to continue. And third, all of the things with which we are busy will also be somewhat compromised since we will not be our best selves. Over a chapel somewhere there is a sign that reads: 'Saints pray more and get more done.' It is not in spite of their prayers that they get more done. It is rather because, after a fashion, God permits no word of theirs to be without effect. 

God does not desire that his people follow him accidentally or without their knowledge or consent. He desires relationship in which he first makes known his will and then allows us to carry it out. He tells his friends what he is about. But this is something that must be practiced and in which we must grow. His sheep know his voice. But they know it well if they have practiced listening. They recognize it readily if they have come to expect that they will hear it. 

He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages
that I may preach there also.
For this purpose have I come.”

When our lives aren't rooted in prayer we will usually find ourselves unable to choose between competing demands on our time. Even if we are not at the mercy of our desire for pleasure or entertainment we may still find ourselves bowing to the most loudly shouted demands of those around us. Or, unable to choose, we may be as immobilized as Peter's mother-in-law. But when prayer is a priority we will experience a clear sense of purpose, like the clarity that allowed Jesus to know that it was time to move on, in spite of the fact that there were many who wished he would stay. God has a purpose for us, just as he did for his Son. We should strive to grow in prayer so that he can direct our steps on the path to fulfill it. He doesn't necessarily always immediately reveal some grand eventual destination. But he help us find the nearby village to which we should go next. What would it be like to live our own lives with the clarity of purpose Jesus possessed? Part of the reason he prayed was to be an example to us. And one of the apparent fruits of his prayer was this clarity of purpose. Thus it is probably fair to assume that we too can reach a point of contact with God where we can say of ourselves and what we are about: "For this purpose I have come", knowing that God is with us.

I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.

Phillips, Craig, and Dean - Friend Of God