Saturday, March 28

Scripture for the Day:  On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.    When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.     – John 7:37-44

Reflection – Joyce Finch 

I have a 2-year old granddaughter who I take of while her Mum and Dad work. One day things were going along great, as usual, then Sara let out a terrible cry and screamed, “Nanny, Nanny!” (I think a motor cycle had roared past the house; something loud.) She came running to me, scared and crying. I scooped her up, her little arms shot round my neck, and she really held on tight. I soothed her, told her what the noise was, and she calmed down and toddled back off to what she was doing.

When I thought about this exercise, it made me think of Sara running to me with complete trust that I was going to protect her and keep her safe. Wouldn’t it be great if each time we got scared, we’d run to Jesus and throw our arms around his neck and hold on tight with the trust of a two-year-old?

To ponder and pray:   What is your greatest fear? Can you ask Jesus to come and sit by you,  and hold it for you for awhile? Stay with that in your imagination… see what happens.     (Warning: Fear is icy… Jesus is hot. It may not survive his touch…)