The Narrow Path

  Saturday, March 8, 2025 Psalms 20; 21 Genesis 38:12-30 Luke 11:5-13 Observance: John of God, worker among the sick and poor, Spain (d. 1550) How Much More! (Luke 11:13) It seems we have been on a roll with the theme of prayer for the last few days – let’s keep it going. Today is an extraordinarily encouraging word from Jesus in order to keep us at prayer. He is telling us that persistence in prayer is always rewarded. Not only persistence, but tenacity, even! If we consider how much we grumble when someone asks us for a favour, yet still do it, how much more will our perfect Father give us that for which we ask? We can be assured that, whatever we ask for, we will get the best possible result. I am not sure if it is necessary for us to remind ourselves, but here goes: our prayers for a pony at Christmas, a million dollars and three wishes might not be answered. But this is not because God does not want to give us his very best. It is preci...

  Friday, March 7, 2025 Psalm 19 Genesis 37:25-38:11 Luke 10:38-11:4 Observance: Perpetua and her companions, martyrs at Carthage (d. 203) Lord, Teach Us To Pray (Luke 11:1) Perhaps today is as good a day as any to reflect on how we pray. Before we do, we should get one thing out of the way. That is the idea that “real” praying only happens when we pray off the top of our head, making it up as we go along. This type of prayer, also called extemporaneous prayer, is indeed a good way to pray. But it is just as valid as preparing our prayers in advance. Or is God the Holy Spirit absent if we decide to put some effort into our prayers? One excellent principle to keep in mind is that the best prayers come straight out of Scripture itself. Today we read the Lord’s Prayer: if all scripture is God-breathed, and today’s prayer comes out of the mouth of Jesus himself, and he himself tells us this is how we ought to pray, then this is a good prayer. If you h...

  Thursday, March 6, 2025 Psalm 18:1-31 Genesis 37:1-24 Luke 10:25-37 What Shall I Do? (Luke 10:25) The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of those teachings of Jesus that is so prevalent that pretty much everyone has it down pat. All the religious elites passed by the man lying on the side of the road needing help, but the Samaritan (boo, hiss) was the only one who proved to be a neighbour. Jesus then says, “You go, and do likewise”. Thus endeth the lesson. But lets wind it back to the start. This whole parable only comes about because someone wants to try and trap Jesus in his words. Listen to the question: “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Is this really a difficult question to answer? Is this not a question everyone, Christian, heathen, and pagan alike, are all able to answer? The Parable of the Good Samaritan is not really a stand-out parable because Jesus gives us some radical new preaching. Ever since our first parents in the Garden of...

  Wednesday, March 5, 2025 Psalm 38 Daniel 9:3-19 Matthew 6:7-15 Observance: Ash Wednesday We Have Rebelled (Daniel 9:9) Just last week we looked at the account in Luke’s gospel of the forgiven woman, and gained an important insight into the benefits of repentance and God’s forgiveness. We picked up a good rule of thumb – that those who are forgiven little, love little; and those forgiven much, love much. There is much in ourselves that needs forgiving, and so if we want to deepen our love for Jesus, we deepen the sense of how much he has forgiven us. This is, I think, how we ought to approach Ash Wednesday this year. Ash Wednesday is very important, because it reminds us of the fundamental Christian aspect of repentance and forgiveness. And God has ordained things so that we have the forgiven woman fresh in our minds as we begin this year’s journey through Lent. Today’s prayer from Daniel is an excellent example of how we ought to pray, not...

  Tuesday, March 4, 2025 Psalms 11; 12 Genesis 35:16-29; 36:6-8 Luke 10:13-24 Rejoiced in the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21) Imagine you are reading through Luke’s gospel for the first time (perhaps you are). There has been, so far, much of a tone of bitter fighting. It feels like we have been walking alongside Jesus as the great demon-slayer, healing sickness and banishing demons left and right. Yet here, as the disciples return from their missionary work, Jesus does something that he has not yet done in front of anyone: he rejoices. More than that, he rejoices in the Holy Spirit. And then we get a little speech from his lips that sounds like something out of John’s gospel, with all that talk about how the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all somehow related to one another. If we have spent any time going through John’s writings – or perhaps some of the dense and doctrinal New Testament Letters – then we have a little bit of an idea about the Triune G...

  Monday, March 3, 2025 Psalm 9 Genesis 35:1-15 Luke 10:1-12 Plentiful Harvest (Luke 10:2) A tradition in the Anglican church that we really ought to pay more attention to is the practise of praying on our Ember Days. For three days, four times a year, we are to pray intentionally for the ordained ministry of the church. Listen to what Jesus says about those who are to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom of God: “I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves”. It truly is a miracle that anyone even enters the ministry, let alone sticks through it to the end. But if we are to take today’s reading as it appears before us, then we need not restrict this thought only to those who are ordained. Indeed, every Christian is called to proclaim the kingdom of God, and that it has come near. Every Christian is to go out, trusting in the Lord’s provision, and heal the sick. Every Christian is sent out by Jesus as a lamb in the midst of wolves. Every Christi...