Morning Prayer
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Inspiration
We cannot appreciate the magnitude of God's gift of eternal life until we first understand that the wages of sin is death. Wages are what we "earned, " what we "deserve. " "Death" is not only physical death, here, but spiritual and eternal death. Our sin was an offense to the infinitely holy God, and thus justly deserved eternal punishment. But God's grace, which was greater than all our sin, brings us eternal life instead.
Prayer
Lord, help us to see that your punishment for sin is just and to sense something of the true heinousness of sin. Help us to appreciate more fully how much we were forgiven, and having been forgiven much, to love much. Amen.
Night Prayer
A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.
Inspiration
Bearing witness is no trivial matter. Even if we are not testifying in court under oath, our words have great power. When we speak truth about others, we honor their character and integrity. But spreading gossip, rumors, and lies only spreads damage and harm. As God’s children, we must be mindful to love our neighbors at all times, and that included being mindful of how we talk about them.
Prayer
Lord, You are the God of all truth. There is no deceit in You. Help me to abide in Your truth, and to speak only what is true, good, and right. Give me the words to speak so that I may build others up by Your truth, and give me the wisdom to know when to raise a defense, when to speak a word of correction, and when to remain silent. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Devotion
The Last Supper
Frances Taylor
I used to run a Bible School on Good Friday for children in Kindergarten through grade 5 and I would take them through all of Holy Week. We started by making palms and marching around the hall and finished with an Easter Celebration. Our celebration of the Last Supper became our snack break. I would have the kids who wanted to be the apostles or Jesus to line up and they were chosen at random to fill the spots. The one who got to be Jesus was very happy until he or she found out that he or she needed to wash the feet of the other twelve who were chosen to be the apostles. And, yes, it was sometimes a girl who got to play Jesus! We have been chosen to be disciples and this means that we are the face and hands and feet of Jesus on earth. Jesus depends on us to bring the Good News to others, and most of the time that is by giving example of how Jesus acted during his time on earth. And just like the boy or girl who got to play Jesus in our Bible ...
