Daily Reading
Daily Thought
Children play a wonderful game called, “Simon says.” One kid is up front, and he thinks he is in charge. He commanded us to stand on one foot, but no one did. He told us to jump up and down. No one jumped. Finally, he said, “Simon says,” and we all did it. Apparently, it was really Simon who was in charge. We didn’t do anything unless Simon said it.
The people of Israel flourished in Egypt and grew in number, a number that brought fear to the king of Egypt. “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them” (Exodus 1:9-10), so the king instructed the Hebrew midwives, “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him” (Exodus 1:15-16). The king of Egypt thought he was in charge. “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them” (Exodus 1:17). And the children of Israel continued to multiply, just as God had promised Abraham, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you can. So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5).
God is in charge and that is better than any alternative, whether king or culture or even (especially) me. So, what God says, obey. Everything else take under advisement.
Daily Prayer
My God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the Hebrews, the God of this world, the one and only God. May I know You, love You, and listen to You. May I know Your voice, and when I hear it, follow it.
God, You are good. Everything that is good comes from You. When I pursue righteousness, when I love my neighbor, when I serve the least of these, I live according to Your kingdom. I display Your kingdom on earth. Your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.
Amen