Today’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 107, 108, 33; Exodus 2:23-3:15; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Mark 9:14-29

Today’s Writer: Jeff Hodgson

In today’s appointed readings we are reminded (among other things) that love is central to the life of a Christian.  In the last verse (33) of Psalm 107 we are told, “Whoever is wise…let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”  In Psalm 108 we read in verse 4, “For Your steadfast love is great above the heavens.”  Psalm 33, verse 5 reads “…the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord; verse 18, “Behold, the eye of the Lord is …on those who hope in His steadfast love”; and in verse 22, “Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us.”

The term, steadfast love, is used to characterize our Lord’s relationship towards His people and surely must be a source of great assurance to true believers.  While it does not guarantee that we will be free from pain and suffering in this life, it means that we can trust that our Lord is loving us even as we suffer and that because His love is steadfast, he will never abandon us.

In I Corinthians 13:1-13 (surely, one of the more familiar passages in Scripture) St. Paul addresses the crucial necessity that love be an integral part of our being, reminding us of the futility of our words (“noisy gong or clanging cymbal”) or actions (“I gain nothing”) if love is absent.

In this 2014 Lenten season as we approach the remembrance of our Lord’s ultimate expression of His love for us, let us honor His sacrifice by steadfastly loving The Lord our God and by steadfastly loving our neighbors.