Reading (Ephesians 1:15-23)
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Thought
On Sunday afternoon Rob and I often go out for a walk. After we have our lunch, we clear away, wash up and then set out for a walk around our local area. Usually I am the keener of the two of us to go out, but last Sunday I just wasn’t in the mood for a walk. I don’t know if I had eaten too much lunch (entirely possible) or it was the rather grey, dull and somewhat gloomy weather that was putting me off, but I didn’t have my usual enthusiasm for our walk.
I knew that the walk would do us both good so decided we would go out anyway. I decided that it might be nice to do a walk we had not done for quite a while. It was not a long walk, it did not go far from the village, but it was a gentle circular walk through some of our local fields. As we set out we found that most of the fields which usually contain sheep had been left free of animals so that the grass and wild flowers had been able to grow. We walked through fields with grasses, daisies, clover and many other flowers growing in them. As we turned a corner I noticed that up ahead of us was a field which was full of red flowers. When we entered the field we found that we were three feet deep in red poppies, with daisies and other plants all mixed in. The view was quite breath-taking. We stood and simply looked at the scene that was in front of us.
Had we not gone out for our walk that afternoon we would have missed seeing the poppies. Next week they might not be there, or they might not look quite as good. If we had simply done our usual walk, we too would have missed them. I knew that the walk would do me good, I didn’t know just how much good it would do me.
Sometimes we might feel that we are not in the mood to spend time with God. We may not feel like going to church, or spending time reading our bibles, or saying our prayers. That is entirely understandable and I am sure happens to all of us from time to time, but I would suggest that there are a few things we can do. We can simply ignore our mood and get on with it anyway, or we can try something a bit different to help motivate us. We might try reading prayers written by other people or singing hymns that we know will bring us nearer to God. I am often to be found singing around our house, especially when I am putting the washing out. We might try study guides or bible notes to help us.
Some days it might feel like nothing special is happening, but each day you spend time with God helps you grow in your faith. And on some days it will be like coming across the field of poppies, something totally unexpected that just reminds you how wonderful our creator God is.
Prayer (David Adam)
God of Time
God of Space
Fill this moment
With your grace.
God of Motion
God of Peace
From each sin
Give release.
God of Quiet
God of Might
Keep us ever
In your sight.
Amen
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