The Narrow Path

  Monday, June 9, 2025 Psalm 89:39-53 Deuteronomy 5:22-6:3 Acts 2:1-13 Observance: Columba of Iona, abbot and missionary (d. 597) Filled With The Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. There seems to be a lot of “filling” in today’s second lesson. Consider the mockers cry, “they are filled with new wine.” (v. 13) Without admitting too much in public, I think I know what it feels like to be “filled” with new wine. And it would seem the mockers were likewise. Filled with new wine is not the most pleasant sensation. Or filled with cheap beer, or cheap Scotch. It’s all a bit unpleasant. But it does give one an inflated courage, perhaps the courage needed to go into the town square and start preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in a language you don’t understand. Yet the apostles were not drunk. As we heard in the fuller reading yesterday on Whit Sunday...

  Saturday, June 7, 2025 Psalm 90 Deuteronomy 5:1-21 Acts 1:15-26 A Heart Of Wisdom (Psalm 90:12) So teach us to number our days     that we may get a heart of wisdom. The exhortation to “remember our death” is an ancient one from the monastery. We all have a limited time on this earth, and death comes for us all. While not dwelling on the sadder aspects of death, it seems like it was a healthy piece of common wisdom to keep in mind that our time on this earth does not stretch out forever. Moses’ prayer in this Psalm that we may be taught to number our days comes halfway through the passage. At the very end, he asks the Lord that he may prosper the work of our hands. Indeed he is so emphatic at this that he repeats himself. The idea that we will all die one day is not a pessimistic one. Yes, the nihilist might also dwell on the same topic, but he would say that it is a reason to simply give up. But the Christian remembers ...

  Friday, June 6, 2025 Psalm 86 Deuteronomy 4:25-42 Acts 1:1-14 A Sign Of Your Favour (Psalm 86:17) Show me a sign of your favour,     that those who hate me may see and be put to shame     because you, Lord , have helped me and comforted me. It is often tempting to pray through the Psalms and instinctively associate ourselves with the righteous one who wrote them. This is a good instinct for the Christian to have, as through Christ we are encouraged to do so. However, we can also look at the enemies of the Psalmist, and make sure we aren’t contributing to the problems of the world. Consider who is upsetting the Psalmist. “Insolent men have risen up against me… they do not set [God] before them.” These are not a nice bunch of people. Looking to the final verse, we can see the solution. The one that is being upset can throw shame upon those doing the upsetting when it is apparent that God loves them. T...

  Thursday, June 5, 2025 Psalms 82; 84 Deuteronomy 4:9-24 John 17:20-26 Observance: Boniface of Mainz, bishop and martyr (d. 754) The Sun, Moon and Stars (Deuteronomy 4:19)   And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. In C. S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy , there is a scene where the gang of goodies are in an English country villa, while the hero is upstairs meeting with the angels of heaven. The angels, who are guardians of the various planets of the solar system, all arrive one by one, and as they do, their particular influence is felt subconsciously by the people on the ground floor. When Mars arrives upstairs, they are filled with courage and chivalric thoughts; when Venus arrives, they are filled with affection for one another. ...

  Wednesday, June 4, 2025 Psalm 18:1-21 Deuteronomy 3:18-4:8 John 17:6-19 A Wise And Understanding People (Deuteronomy 4:6) Today we have a wonderfully divine connection between knowledge and wisdom. I say wonderful because trying to figure out the right option in any given situation can often be cripplingly difficult. So many decisions have to be made between several good options, with few or no obvious poor options. And as the old saying goes, knowledge is the understanding that the tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing to leave it out of a fruit salad. I have heard one piece of advice when trying to make a decision: instead of asking what is the correct option, ask what is the wise option. Yet that just runs into another set of difficulties. How do we then define wisdom? The book of Deuteronomy, which we have been slowly working through this past week and a bit, began with Moses giving everyone a recap of what they have been up to. They are now fi...

  Tuesday, June 3, 2025 Psalm 78 Deuteronomy 2:24-3:5 John 16:25-17:5 Observances: Martyrs of Uganda (d.1886); Janani Luwum, archbishop of Uganda, martyr (d. 1977) John XXIII, bishop of Rome, reformer (d. 1963) Before The World Existed (John 17:5) And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. I’ve heard so many different phrases Christians use to ask other people if they are Christians as well. There is the classic “are you a Christian?” One that I particularly enjoy hearing is “do you also love Jesus?” This is such a beautiful way of describing as well as identifying what it is like being a Christian. Yes, we believe; but we also love. And the love we have for Jesus bubbles up in us through a desire to see him glorified. We love him, and we want everyone else to enjoy that love, too. Today we begin a passage in John that is described as Jesus’ “high priestly prayer”. Our Lo...

  Monday, June 2, 2025 Psalm 77 Deuteronomy 1:46-2:19 John 16:12-24 A Full Joy (John 16:24) [Jesus said] “ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” If you are the type who patronises fast-food joints, you may be accustomed to the idea that the food can come out in under five minutes. That seems to be the general rule of thumb across most chains. However, at a place I once worked at, the type of food we were serving meant that the food took just a little bit longer – under ten minutes, instead of under five. And so the owners had big signs everywhere telling customers that, while the extra wait may seem painful, the memory of the food will last longer. It was a great marketing strategy. Because isn’t that exactly how our human nature works? While we are waiting for something, the wait is all we can think about – it overtakes every other thought. And then, when we finally do get what we have been waitin...