Devotion
Do Not Let Me Forget You
Frances Taylor
The exiles in Babylon were having a very bad time. Taken by force from their homeland, they had no way of knowing if they would ever see Jerusalem again. This psalm reflects their pain. I wonder if today's refugees feel the same. I would imagine that they do. Some have been exiled by force, others have fled from the dangers present in their homelands and hope to find safety in foreign countries. But we can never take away the pain of not knowing if they will return to the places they love. Often people who have had to relocate within their own country for work find themselves missing the people and places they love. Imagine how much more difficult it is for those who can't go back. For the Israelites, they lost their homeland as well as their temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was more than a city for them; it was where they worshipped, where they believed God was present in their temple. This was a severe blow. They thought that God had abandoned them, not that they had abandoned God. For today's refugees, the situation is a little different but I'm sure that they feel abandoned. Abandoned by their God and abandoned by their leaders who are supposed to keep them safe. As Christians, we have a responsibility to do what we can for all of God's children. We can work to bring justice to our world. We can refuse to support organizations that invest in companies that refuse to pay a living wage or to provide safe workplaces. We can raise awareness of the needs of others both in our own country as well as in others. We can support those who try to give refugees safe places to live, and those that reach out to provide medical and other services to those who lack them. Let us pray for the world in which we live and for the good of all God's children wherever they might live.
Prayer
Loving God, we know that you never abandon us even though we sometimes walk away from you. May we never forget you and always work to give others the same confidence that we have in you. Amen.
Devotion
Abraham is Father of All
Frances Taylor
There are questions in every age about the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. Abraham is considered to be the Father of Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims. We forget that it was Abraham who believed in the doctrine of only one God. It is through him and his descendants that this tradition comes down to us. Another fact that we can overlook is that Jesus was Jewish. He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, died, rose and ascended into heaven as a Jew. Because we believe that he was the Messiah, the Christ, and we follow him, we are called Christian. Without the Old Testament, we wouldn't understand the promise of salvation; we wouldn't understand why it was important for Jesus to be of the family of King David. We would not understand his teaching either, because Jesus quoted from Scripture – the Old Testament – frequently. He told us that he came to fulfill the Scriptures, not to abolish them. In the same way, we can ...
