Gleanings from the Daily Office – Sweeeeet!

GLEANINGS (from the Daily Office) – Sweeeet! – Year One, Proper 21, Monday, September 28, 2015, Matthew 6:25=34

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.”

This blog or commentary is based on the Daily Office. The Daily office is a systematic way of reading through the Scriptures so that we are familiar with the whole counsel of God. I attempt to draw a single sentence or thought from one of four passages (OT, Psalm, NT and Gospel) and expound upon it in a way that will further our understanding of the likeness into which we are being transformed.

Dear Bishop and friend Quigg Lawrence commended the Daily Office today in a Facebook post. To that I easily say Amen! In his commendation, the Bishop said of the Daily Office, “Beats sugary devotionals.” To that as well I easily say Amen! Some commentaries too often temper with sweet stories the affliction being heaped upon us by the Word.

But on some days, the Word is just plain sweet. Today is one of those days. “Consider the lilies of the field.” The God who created us, created and sustains the lilies of the field. The lilies. They do not toil. They do not, by the Grace of God, choose to live their lives in ways that honor God. They offer nothing back. No obedience. And yet God sustains them.

How much more will He sustain us! Many of us struggle with anxiety. What does the future hold? How will I provide for my family? To that Jesus says, “do not be anxious.” Remember the lilies.

Sweet! Even sugary.

–Frodo: “I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”–