Thoughts for the Day

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees,
and not to selfish gain.
Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
give me life in your ways.....
See, I have longed for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

I love to learn, whether it's a new language (I'm an on-line duolingo fanatic!), or how to play the recorder better, or more about the Bible and my faith. I value education, perhaps because I left school at 15 years old with no qualifications. Finding O levels as an adult and then going to university in my late twenties felt like an amazing gift. Studying at Heythrop College in London in my fifties to take a second degree was the cherry on the cake.

Because of this, chrstian teaching has always been high on my list of priorities in parish life, and to see others studying "theology"on their Diocesan course of Christian education is a great joy. The word "theology" comes from two Greek words, theos meaning 'God' and logos meaning 'the word about (or the study of) God'. For Christians theology is learning to understand God as He is revealed in the Bible. We obviously cannot understand Him completely, however, God wants us to know Him as far as possible, and learning about Him can be a great joy.

Psalm 119 is a great favourite. It's immensely long, but has wonderful sections within it. Today we see the psalmist asking God to: 'Give me understanding that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.' We could do worse than make this a model for our life. No matter how busy we are, or for that matter how old we are, we should prioritise our day or our week to make sure we learn more about God's words in our Bible. We should also make it a priority to introduce others to learn more about God.

Heavenly Father,
inspire us to learn about You
by studying Your holy word in our bible.
Open our minds to understand more about You,
and to draw closer to You.
Inspire us to read the scriptures
and learn to love what we read about Your Son
and all who have tried to follow His commands.
Keep us close to Your word
and make it a rule for our life.
Amen.