Daily ScriptureO Lord, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow. (Psalm 144:3-4)Daily ReflectionIf this last 12-15 months of living through the pandemic has shown us anything, it is this: just how important relationships are, and how precious life is. Whatever age we each live to, life - in the grand scheme of things - is short. The Psalmist refers to it as a breath, a passing shadow. There is one relationship that we should not neglect to work on, our relationship with God. The creator of the earth, the galaxy, the universe…. thinks about us, about you; and the psalmist asks, “why God would do that?” Because he loves and cares for all His creation. He loves you. So we should do our bit to draw closer to God. Job (afflicted by many problems) said, “As for me, I would seek God, and to God I would commit my cause.” Follow Job’s example. Revd David
Daily Scriptureif you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, … will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? (Romans 2.17-23) Daily ReflectionHypocrisy is loathsome – and not hard to spot… ‘When lawyers strive to heal a breach, And parsons practise what they preach, When Justices hold equal scales, And Rogues are only found in jails; Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down, And march his men on London town!’ wrote Thomas Hardy in The Trumpet Major. St Paul was echoing Jesus in accusing those who preached about the Law of shameful guilt in not upholding it themselves. Jesus also warned about wanting to get a speck out of someone else’s eye when you have a plank in yours. Who of us is without fault? David Harmsworth
Daily Scripture:All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:12-13)Daily ReflectionThe Bible gives us the Ten Commandments; from these we know how we should be living with one another. Societies and individuals who have never seen a Bible still know right from wrong; every culture in the world follows (or tries to follow) God’s moral law. (for example every culture knows that murder is wrong not right.) This first verse of scripture is saying that those who know God’s “laws” will be judged by them, and those who don’t know God’s written laws will be judged by whether they keep the standards of their conscience of what is right and wrong. The second verse is basically saying that it is no good knowing the Ten Commandments (being able to recite what the 7<sup>th</sup> Commandment is, for example), but then not living by them.Don’t be proud knowing the Ten Commandments, but live the Ten Commandments. Revd David
Daily ScriptureSatan left God and struck Job with terrible sores. His wife said 'Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it. He told her " You're talking like an empty headed fool. We take the good days from God - why not also the bad days?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God" (Job 2, 7-10)Daily ReflectionPoor Job. Struck down with sores, he also lost his home, his family and his livelihood. Job was a good, Godly man yet suffered immensely. Here lies the age old question of why bad things happen to good people? When we are in trouble and feel alone and unsure, what do we do? Friends may try to give us answers, but they don't understand. We cry out to God and ask "Why me?", but we don't seem to hear His voice. Instead of trying to understand God's plan in our suffering, or work out how to prevent trouble from happening again, perhaps we should try to enter into our suffering, looking around for the God who makes Himself know to us in many ways, from the little things we take for granted, to the wonders of the galaxies above us - the God who dwells in us. Both the worst that might happen to us and the everyday mundane is God's territory. In the former, we simply cling onto the God who sees our suffering and shares our pain, and is our single source of hope in all things. Vicki Young