Morning Prayer
Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Inspiration
What does Paul mean to mind not high things? It cannot mean to avoid the high, deep doctrines of God which Paul himself often teaches. He says that we should condescend to men of low estate. He seems to mean that we should not talk over people's heads, be focused always on things that only the "affluent" could relate to or appreciate, or separate ourselves from other brothers/sisters in Christ based on wealth and class.
Prayer
O Savior, you chose the lowly things of this world, the poor, the downtrodden, the uneducated, the weak, far more than the affluent and wealthy. You did this for your glory to discourage boasting. Let us all, as Christians, partake of a single Christian "culture" and not divide into our separate groups and neglect to relate to those outside of that group. We are one in you, let us act like it. Amen.
Devotion
The One Who Said Thanks
Frances Taylor
Leprosy was a terrible disease in ancient days. There was no cure and anyone who had been diagnosed with leprosy was an outcast and had to stay away from any populated place and call out "unclean, unclean" when people came near. The ten lepers approached Jesus in hopes that he would heal them, and he did. Why is it that only the Samaritan returned to give thanks? I've given this some thought over the years and the only answer I could come up with is that he didn't take Jesus' healing for granted. After all, he was an outsider, and worse, he was hated by the Jews and had no reason to expect that Jesus, a Jew, would take pity on him. The other nine, presumably, were Jewish. Did they take for granted that Jesus would heal his own? It made me think about what I take for granted. I was born into a stable family that loved me, provided for me, and gave me a good education. We weren't well off by any standard, but we had what we needed.
I was ...
