Ordinary Time: Monday, August 17, 2009

Old Testament Lesson

2 Samuel 17:24-18:8

One of the signs of a good leader is someone who is willing to listen to his/her people. Today, David has a plan. David knows what he wants to do. But his people say, no, let's try this. And David, the king, the one after God's own heart, David says. Ok. Let's try that.

Who in your life do you listen to? Who in your life, if they disagreed with you, would make you reexamine your plans? We all need someone in our life to do that. That's willing to tell us the things that we don't want to hear, in love, of course. That's willing to speak truth that we may miss. David always had someone in his life like that, Nathan, his trusted commanders, someone. And, he listened.

Who do we have that we listen to? We all need someone.

New Testament Lesson

Acts 22:30-23:11

Paul saw all the things that he endured as a chance to testify to God's grace and mercy. He saw all things that happened in his life as something that God could use for His glory. What a great way to look at things! In life, we can see things in the negative, in the bad, in the troublesome. Or we can see each thing in life, each moment, each event, as something God can use.

God used each part of Paul's journey for some awesome means of showing His grace. Each thing that happened to Paul, God could use. So is it in our lives. Each part of our lives, each moment of our lives, God can use. May we allow God to use all of us today.

Gospel Lesson

Mark 11:12-26

Faith. Jesus said if we believe, it will happen. We are a people of faith. We are a people of belief. We are a people of hope. We walk by faith, not by sight. We are called to believe today. That's the key to who we are. We have faith in God, that's He's at work. That He's not done. That He's doing more than we can ever imagine, or even see. We have faith. And, as Peter once said, Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.