Saturday, March 25, 2023

 

Saturday, March 25, 2023


Psalms 62; 63

Exodus 6:2-7:7

Luke 19:28-48


Observance: The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary


All the people were spellbound by what they heard.


There is a very good reason that these devotionals do not go for much longer than three minutes. It is for the same reason that social media algorithms prefer this length of video, and why smartphones are so wildly popular: our attention span is measured in the tens of seconds. As soon as something is no longer fresh, it is swiped off the screen, or used to wrap tomorrow’s fish and chips.


While the people in the Temple in Jerusalem did not, as we do, suffer from the curse of the black mirror, they were still people, and the appeal of the new and apathy towards the old still led their desires. But those who heard Jesus’ words were “spellbound”; they were hanging off His every word.


This is because the words that proceed from the mouth of God exist outside the categories of “fresh” and “stale”. They can be forgotten, certainly. But every time they are spoken and heard, they transform: they either break down the barriers of the human soul, melt the heart, and draw the hearer into the presence of God; or they harden the heart, cause a negative reaction, and bring out the demonic.


God has given us His word in these pages of scripture. He didn’t have to, but He did. Many Christians around the world have to commit entire passages to memory, and then destroy the scrap of paper upon which it was written, for fear of the authorities. It gives life and light to the prisoner in the dark cell; may we never take it for granted, and relish in the heavenly leisure of dwelling on God’s word to us.



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