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.
SATURDAY, August 7 (John Mason Neale)
John 2:13-25. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
How deep is the pain when someone we admire is caught in a disgraceful sin or betrayal! How great is the shock when we sin in some way we’d never imagined we could. Disillusionment, rage, defeat, and hopelessness may swirl around us. How can I forgive them, how can I forgive myself? Some of the emotional storm comes simply from our naïveté.
With God there is no naïveté. Jesus displays penetrating insight as he looks at Peter and Judas and John and Mary Magdalene and the rich young ruler. He reaches out to them, he gives his life for them, not because he is an untutored optimist but because he knows the possibilities of both good and evil in God’s world. Unlikely ones respond, like tax-collectors and centurions. Peter can flounder around, a hero today and a flop tomorrow. Each of us is an astounding mixture of promise and betrayal; he knows and seeks us anyway. Jesus does not shrink from Judas; it is Judas who gives up on Jesus. (1990)
PRAY for the Diocese of Evo (Nigeria)
Ps 87, 90 * 136; Judges 9:22-25, 50-57; Acts 4:32—5:11
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