Friday Yr B Sunday bet Jul 3-9
Daily readings: Jeremiah 7: 16-26, 2 Cor 10:7-11, Psa 123
Jeremiah 7:16-26 (New International Version)
16 “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes of bread for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to provoke me to anger. 19 But am I the one they are provoking? declares the LORD. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame? 20 ” ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched. 21 ” ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.’
Mara clicked off the monitor and slid the computer keyboard back under the desk. Turning around, the light from the hall disappeared as Mara’s mother blocked the doorway.
“Mara.” The crispness in her mom’s voice was unmistakable. “I told you no playing computer after hours. This is your third time. You have no more chances.”
“Mom,” she whined, “I needed to finish some homework and I wanted to let my online friends know I wasn’t going to chat.”
“Mara, you were disobedient. You know the rules. No computer after bedtime. Now, you’ll have no chance for computer. It’s off limits for a week.” The teenager started to whine and closed her mouth, with shoulders slumped, she cleaned up the room and got ready for bed.
The next day, her mom and dad went over the rules again. She couldn’t chat with her friends, she couldn’t research on the computer and she wouldn’t be able to play any games. Mara went to school and returned home to finish her homework. It called for internet research. Checking for her mom, she found her in the family room working on her laptop.
“I’m going to work on my homework, Mom. Call me for dinner.” Mara blurted.
“Welcome home, Mara. How was your day?” Her mom looked up from her typing.
“Fine, Mom. Got lots of work. See ya at dinner.” Mara disappeared into her room and unpacked her laptop. She turned on and logged in, waiting for the screen to load her preferences. Waited. Waited some more. The screen had frozen. With a few tweaks, she resolved to shut down and restart. Again, she logged in and waited. Using all she knew about computers, she found she couldn’t load her preferences. She closed it and turned to her books. The studies went slower without the aid of the internet, but she finished well before supper. Opening her laptop, she ran through some diagnostics to see what was wrong. Everything was working correctly, according to the tests.
“Ahem.” Her mother’s throat clearing suggested trouble.
“Hi Mom.” Mara smiled sheepishly.
I caught you disobeying again.”
“Not really, I haven’t been able to get on my computer. It’s the strangest thing. Nothing seems wrong, but it keeps freezing.”
“Mara, I knew that I couldn’t keep you from cheating, but I put it in God’s hands whether you would play or not. I hoped that you would want to do the right thing on your own.”
“Aw Mom.”
“You know God tells us that when we are obedient to the commandments, that all will go well with us.”
“You think God made my laptop not work?”
“I can’t say. I only know that I put it in God’s hands to watch out for you.” Her mother continued, “Why don’t you try what Jeremiah the prophet suggested, that you obey God’s commandments and all will go well with you.”
“I might as well. I can’t work on my computer.” Mara shrugged.
“When you are tempted to do the wrong thing, pray and ask God to help you do the right thing.”
Later that week, her mom told her that she could go back on her computer. Mara turned it on and it fired up. Nothing froze when she logged in. “Do you think that God prevented me from using my computer?” Mara asked her mom.
“I think God is more about helping your computer to work when you are obedient to the commandments that God has given us. I can’t say that God prevented you. I know that God promises that things will go well when we are obedient. Since you have been obedient, things have gone better, haven’t they?’
“They have. It’s strange. I am not as angry about losing my computer as I was, either.” Mara admitted.
“God doesn’t promise everything will be perfect but that it will go well with us. I know when I obey, things are always more manageable.”
“Mom, I’m sorry that I was disobedient to you and to God.”
“I accept your apology. God loves you and so do I.” She opened her arms and gave her a bear hug. “Let’s try to be obedient this week, okay?”
Mara nodded her head against her mom’s shoulder. “I love you too.”
Daily Prayer: Almighty God of love, Forgive us for our disobeying what you want us to do. Help us to want to do what is right and equip us to achieve it so that you will be pleased with us and it will go well with us. We love you and want to honor you. Amen.
Memorize: Jeremiah 7:23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you.
