Drifting on the current
Lily Cathcart
March 10, 2022
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Luke 4: 5-8 (NRSVA)
5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ 8 Jesus answered him, ‘It is written,
“Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.”’
In today’s reading Jesus is offered a way to sail easily into power. As a restless person I know it is easy to get swept a little too quickly into a current. Perhaps you know this feeling too? Especially within a society where value is often placed on the perception of a thing rather than its substance. While I cannot always stop being swept into the current I can remember that God offers me a way back out again. Sometimes the way out is an oar to steer myself with. In times when I am handed an oar I know that getting out of the stream is going to require some sweat and maybe a steep learning curve. But I am thankful none the less for God’s seemingly endless patience with me and an endless supply of oars!
Sometimes I am a little too caught in a current to row myself to shore. Then I cry to God for help and God opens up a side stream into which I gratefully drift, exhausted and willing to accept the help of friendly nudges I might once have dismissed or rejected before.
However we get out of the unwanted current our restless souls will still be looking for another, better, one. This time however, and every time after, we can search with greater knowledge of which currents lead us closer and closer to God. Increasingly managing to avoid the currents which might lead us, far too swiftly, away from God’s loving embrace.
PRAYER:
Dear God of our life-boats
Help us to learn everyday how to sail closer to you
Teach us to steer ourselves and not be caught in other currents
Come and float with us as we journey through your creation
In search of closer connection to you
Amen
Lent Disciplines
As we think about the wilderness this week, let’s take time every day to contemplate God’s gift of creation with its incredible varieties of habitat. Consider if there’s anything you can do this week to actively care for God’s world.
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