Monday 15 March

Today is Monday the 15 March, in the fourth week of Lent.    

As I enter into prayer today, I slow down.  I slow right down and notice where I am, I notice what is around me… In all of this, God is present.  Right here, right now. God’s presence sanctifies this ordinary place, and makes it holy.    

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Isaiah.    

Isaiah 65:17-21  

For I am about to create new heavens  and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered  or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,  and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.    

How are Mondays for you? Do you wake with a list of things needing to be done, or, do you look forward to the fresh start that Monday offers? Take a moment to reflect on this and invite the Lord into your thoughts.    

Today, we are nearing the end of the Book of Isaiah, a book that has watched over God’s people for generations. Isaiah offers a testament of hope; hope in the Lord.  Although the timing is not the same, perhaps the effects of the pandemic have created the same need in me. The verses promise a complete turnaround of circumstance; delight replacing distress. Does this speak to my life now?    

As I listen to the scripture again, what do I take from the Lord’s promise? What needs to be restored in me?    

'Be glad and rejoice for evermore’ How do I hear this command? In a time of prayer share your response with the Lord.    

You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.