Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
MONDAY, September 28
Matthew 6:25-34. And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
My mother-in-law was a world-class worrier. She passed some of that on to her daughter, but my wife discovered a way to lighten this burden. When something needed to be worried about, she and her mother would take turns, thus giving each other some respite.
Worrying is a normal human act. None of us is free from it. Whether it be over a test when we are in school, over our children when we become parents, or over our health when we are old, we worry. But we only have so much emotional energy, and if we expend it all on worry it will cripple us.
In today's gospel, we hear that if we redirect the energy it takes to worry into something constructive, something like striving to bring in the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then the rest will fall into place.
As good advice as this is, I know it will not totally prevent me from worrying, but maybe if I can just alternate my worry with striving to serve God, I will be healthier both physically and spiritually.
PRAY for the Diocese of St. Asaph (Wales)
Ps 89:1-18 * 89:19-52; 2 Kings 17:24-41; 1 Corinthians 7:25-31
View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.
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