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, October 23 Saint James of Jerusalem
Matthew 13:54-58. Is not this the carpenter’s son?
Jesus must have seemed ordinary. People didn’t look at him or listen to him and say, “This man is God.” He didn’t radiate light or float over the ground. He bled when he scratched his toe and laughed when he was tickled. People who had known him from childhood had a hard time realizing he was special. Was he not the carpenter’s son?
This may seem unimportant, but when people forget it they are led into some foolish ideas and behavior. Some suppose that Jesus never laughed and therefore consider laughter to be “unspiritual.” Others trying to follow him move with studied grace and speak in “holy” tones. Still others reject the God-filled life because they could never bring themselves to act “like that.” Some cannot imagine a divinity in ordinary human form at all.
Many pious people forget that they can ask God to be with them in their silly, embarrassing, or awkward moments so that even those moments can be transformed by God’s presence. That is important. God-filled moments may, like Jesus, look ordinary, but their inner reality is very different. (1988)
PRAY for the Diocese of Iran (Middle East)
Ps 1; Acts 15:12-22a; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
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Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.
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