A Voice Worthy of our Attention

Scripture Verses that Caught my Attention Today: Psalm 121:1 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
AND
Mark 9:7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Observation: Both the Old and New Testaments expect us to focus our attention on the one through whom true help can be found.

Application: There are, of course, many distractions in life—lots of people and ideas clamoring for our attention. In the process there are often efforts to convince us that we really must focus on these other voices or else we will in some way be missing out or messing up. But are such claims really true?

Today’s lessons present an alternative view. Our help, we are reminded, comes from the one who made everything we see and even that which we cannot see. And the voice/witness/example we are to focus on, we are told from above, is God’s Beloved Son.

I’m struck by how often people clamored to get Jesus to go about his life in a way that was much different from the life to which he had been called and sent. Nevertheless, he stayed true to himself and to the One from whom he was sent.

To help us to go and do likewise, we are gifted with the opportunity to immerse ourselves into God’s story as witnessed in the Holy Scriptures and lived out among God’s people in this world; one can’t really have one without the other. It’s still not always easy, human inclinations being what they are. But at least we are regularly reminded from whom our help ultimately comes and whose voice is ultimately worthy of our attention.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for this beautiful day and for the opportunity to serve and live in your name. Help us to do so ever more faithfully, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Readings today included: Psalm 121 and Mark 9-10)