Carol Purves

I had a shower a few days ago and another one this morning. I will have a another shower tomorrow; because I am clean on one day, the grime and dirt of the day rubs off on to me and I don’t stay clean.

The treatment of my sin is not like that. I have sinned yesterday, today and unfortunately will sin tomorrow and the rest of my life. But I don’t have to be like the Pharisees who were continually needing to offer sacrifices for their sins. They didn’t remain clean and pure.

The blood of Jesus has cleaned me once and for all. The complete sacrifice has been made; nothing more has to be done. My sins are forgiven for ever. That sounds pretty marvellous to me.

Among the miles of words written about our late this Queen, I read this snippet. Talking with her chaplain, the Queen said that she would so love to live to see the Lord’s return, so that she could lay her crown at His feet. I imagine that is what she has now done.

We will not have a regal crown to lay at our Lord’s feet, but we will have a crown of our achievements, our sadnesses and our sorrows. There will be the crown of our failures and our repentance.

The size or importance of our crowns will not matter. The value of our offering will be accompanied by our thankful hearts.

The chief priests, teachers of the law and elders planned to kill Jesus. He undermined their authority and on more than one occasion were reported as being afraid of the crowd. Their concern for human opinion was greater than their love of God. They failed to see that Jesus was the Son of God. Np wonder we read of the prophecy about Jesus ‘The stone the builders has rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvellous in our eyes.’ in Mark12:

Do we care for public opinion more than our love of God?

Mother Theresa died 25 years ago this month. Her name is recognised all round the world for her work in bringing help to suffering humanity. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize she always appeared cheerful and deeply committed to God in her work but writing in her diary in 1958 she admitted honestly and surprisingly., ‘My smile is a great cloak that hides a multitude of pains. People think that my faith, my hope and my love are overflowing and that my intimacy with God and His union with His will fills my heart. If only they knew.’

‘Should we pay tax to Caesar or not?

A trick question from the Pharisees; they thought they had caught him out with this one. As always He had the last laugh. By looking at a denarius He instructed them ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is Gods.’

It is a question we need to ask ourselves today. As a citizen of our country there are rules we need to obey unless they conflict with the laws of God. How blessed we are in this country that the conflict seldom arises.

As the son of Solomon, Rehoboam succeeded to his father’s throne; but it was not going to be an easy ride. Jeroboam returned from exile and urged the king to lighten the load of harsh labour which Solomon had placed on the people of Israel.

Rehoboam asked advice from his father’s councillors and also of the young men he had grown up with. The councillors advocated leniency; the young men heavier burdens. Rehoboam followed the advice of the young men which finally resulted in a split in the kingdom, the rebels being led by Jeroboam who sinned greatly in the sight of God.

Many times experience pays off and the advice of the elderly can be the wiser path.

There are many distractions for Christians in this world; that’s how the devil likes it to be .Even when praying or praising God our minds can wander. In my morning prayer time my thoughts will scurry off to things other than praise and worship of God.

My mind will flit to the many jobs of the day or those things that are not as important as talking and talking to God. I need to ask the Holy Spirit to help me concentrate on holy matters.