Abbi at Proverbs 31 Living has an interesting challenge going and that is to read the bible in a year and blog about some reflective questions she is going to ask herself about her reading. That got me thinking about the practice of spiritual reading or divinio lectio which monks use as part of their daily round of prayer. This practice of reading and reflecting might be something that all of us could find helpful, have you got a book that means a lot to you, where you find wisdom ? Could you take some time every day or week to read a little bit and them reflect upon it and ask questions about what it means to you in everyday life ?
As part of Abbi's challenge I re-read Matthew Chapter 1, a bit of text that I have always found rather boring I confess ! However, this week it got me thinking, all that long line of people who are listed as ancestors, men and women whom we know little about, what were they like ? Yet, each one of them contributed something precious to the future.
We all have people who have been part of our lives in the past, we talked about grandparents last week. But what about that special teacher who recognised you ? The chap who helped you at the petrol station ? Your Mum who worked long hours to provide for you? Each one contributed to your life and are people towards whom you can feel gratitude. All those people who made you who you are today, let's give thanks for them !
God's word is so amazing... there are nuggets found even in the chapters that seem quite "boring" on first glance, the begets... lol... I enjoyed your thoughts on Matthew 1, and agree that it is a wonderful thing to do, to take a closer look at what you read, and ask yourself questions as you read. I love to look up words in the Greek and Hebrew, as that often adds such depth to the passage. May the Lord continue to bless you with these precious nuggets in His word :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great week as well, I look forward to hearing from you again !
DeleteSo exciting to hear that you are diving deeper into God's word as well. That is a neat thought about how each of those people listed in the genealogy of Jesus played his or her own important role. It is fun to think of all the people that have made a difference in our lives as well.
ReplyDeleteLast week my oldest daughter and I went to a violin concert and the men playing mentioned how they had traced back their violin playing "ancestry" according to who their teacher was and then who taught him and so on. They were able to trace it back for hundreds of years it sounded like and tie it in with a composer who's work they were playing. That seemed really neat to me. As a music teacher it is pretty fun to think of how my teaching some child to play an instrument now may be the means of encouraging others in a beautiful way some years down the road. I hope so.
That is so cool about violin playing having 'ancestry' too. I am looking forward to seeing what I can learn from this week's reading now !
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great comment !