Lent Week 2—Saturday – Psalm 23 Genesis 43:16-34 1 Corinthians 7:10-24 Mark 5:1-20
The readings for today speak to me in this time of preparation mainly in the sense of
who I am in relation to God. Who am I to God, to Christ?
In the selection from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians he outlines what the status of Christians is—whether they are slave or free—and how men and women in the faith should be with each other. Paul is telling us, reading this letter today and living outside of the ancient world, that we should bind ourselves to our spouses and to Christ as his servants. Both these relationships are unbreakable, consecrated bonds.
In the reading from Mark, we see Christ casting out the legion of demons possessing the man living in the necropolis of the Gerasenes. Christ wrangles with the man’s demons, who then leave their human victim by His divine authority. And reading this passage today, we can rest assured that Christ has power over the demons that can possess us—materialism, callousness to the human condition, hatred of the “other.” If we open ourselves to His power, we can be healed, we can sit beside him at peace. Christ loves us that much.
And with Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd” we see so clearly how much God loves
us, how He will forever protect us, no matter where and how we may stray. In the
imagery of the psalm, we are the sheep and He our shepherd. And without our asking, He will lead us to better pasture for our sustenance. God is our master, and we are His servants.
Today I see through these readings who I am to a loving, all-powerful God, and I feel
better prepared for the wondrous gift of the Resurrection at Easter.
-Rob Gilchrist
The Carpenter's Nail 