Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “Servants are not greater than their master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Last week I was in Manchester for the marathon, and the four of us went our different ways, but wanted to be at the finish line at around 2pm. We shared our movements in real time on our phones, to track where we were. I could see my icon, and the other icons. Outside Trafford Cricket Ground the icons were almost on top of each other. I stood on the far side of the road, but there was no sign of them! The trouble was there were 28,000 marathon runners, with about 56,000 friends and relatives waiting in the road for them to return!

Jesus says if we belong to the world, then the world will love us, and if we belong to him then the world will hate us. Now today, there is a problem with this! In Roman times to admit to being a Christian meant death. Life was very black and white. But today that is rarely so, and it can be hard to separate christians from non-christians - many of the latter are loving, caring people, for example. The difference is about our relationship with God.

In the case of the marathon, I heard the voice of a loved one on my phone who guided me to them. So perhaps we need to tune into God's voice much more, for He will guide us, drawing us closer to Him as one of His beloved children, and encourage us to grow in faith.

Lord Jesus Christ,
as one of Your followers
help us not get lost
in the crowd,
by keeping our faith under wraps.
May we draw closer to You;
and show our faith through our speech
and through our actions.
Help us also to listen for Your voice
amid the clamour of the world,
as it guides us in the way to travel.
Amen.