Dear God, as I intentionally experience Lent this year and go through Day 3 for Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer, I’ve decided to do something a little different today. I want to read the passages and then call out the verses that resonate with me. But before I do, here are the passages that have for us to read today.

• AM Psalms 31, 95
• PM Psalms 35
• Deuteronomy 7:12-16
• John 1:35-42
• Titus 2:1-15

Here we go:

Psalm 31: 6 – I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD

Idols have come to mean more to me over the last three and a half years. Ever since I heard Andy Stanley interview the couple where the pastor/husband barely survived COVID and he noted that we tend to make an idol out of “certainty,” and we find all kinds of tangible things to put our certainty in (spouse, children, economy, government, etc.) when you, God, are the only thing that is the same and never changes. It’s now easier to see the idols in my life that I must relinquish, and also see the idols others make. Right now, in election season, it feels like many people are worshipping their political party, counting on it to save them or else all will be lost. I hate those [including myself] who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the LORD.

Psalm 31:11-13 – Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors; I am a dread to my friends–those who see me on the street flee from me. I am forgotten by them as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery. For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side; they conspire against me and plot to take my life.

This is a psalm of David, and I cannot help but wonder if he wrote it during Absalom’s revolt. The idea that David would be the contempt of his neighbors and that those who see him would flee from him is shocking, but then again aren’t we all, as humans, shockingly fickle? Are there areas of my life where I foolishly abandon those I should support because it is the safe thing for me to do?

Psalm 95:6-7 – Come, let us bow down and worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

This is just a nice piece of worshiping you right here. Oh, Father, you are my Maker. You are my God. I am a lamb in your pasture. A lamb under your care. Thank you. I submit myself to your care.

Deuteronomy 7:12 – If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.

Deuteronomy is where you are laying down the law, literally, for the Israelites. This whole passage is, frankly, a little simplistic in my mind. It says you will make good for the good and bad for the bad. All I ask right now is not for good, but that you will help me to be near to you.

John 1:37-38 – When the two disciples heard [John the Baptist] say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

What an interesting question. I wonder if they knew. I wonder if they had an idea of what they wanted but didn’t have the courage to say so they just asked where he was staying. In their heart of hearts, I would imagine they were looking for the same Messiah everyone else was looking for. They wanted to be lifted out of the mire of subjugation to Rome and restored to power. Had they known at that moment how things would play out over the next three years they might have stayed behind. What do I want from you, even this morning? Is it the right thing or is it selfish?

Titus 2:9-10 – Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teacher about God our Savior attractive

For this passage, I want to quote part of today’s reading from Sacred Invitation: Lenten Devotions Inspired by the Book of Common Prayer: “But reading the letter to Titus can be overwhelming. Planting and nurturing the church in Crete is not an easy matter. The culture is crude and in constant agitation. As part of the Roman Empire, it is subject to, among other things, the norms of slavery, the subjugation of women, and the abuse of alcohol. Sexual immorality is rampant, and hopelessness is widespread.\\Knowing and following Jesus, according to Paul, is the only adequate antidote to such a broken world.“

Father, I am still leaning into the word “patience” for this Lenten season. Help me to continue to die to myself and simply embrace everything Jesus was–and everything Jesus was is completely contradictory to who I am. Thank you for this amazing gesture on your part to come to earth and give us your example of how to behave and live. How to love and serve. How to give of ourselves, worship you, and love others. Help me to be that man today.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen