– Scripture:

              Love while on this side of the Dirt

At this time, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. The moment he came out of the water, he saw the sky split open and God’s Spirit, looking like a dove, come down on him. Along with the Spirit, a voice: “You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.”

                          Mark 1:9-11 MSG

– Reflection:

Let the people you care about know how much you love them while they are here. Even if every person on the entire earth knows how you felt about a person at their funeral, that doesn’t mean that the person knew. Challenge yourself this year and going forward to get over yourself and let those important to you know what they mean to you. Give them their flowers now. When Jesus was baptized, the passage in Mark 1:1-9 MSG started his ministry, and for those three years, he did some amazing things for the people around that part of the world. I only remember the guys who were close to him and even cared about him while he went through that Passover and later the resurrection time frame. For all that he did and the reverance of he is to us now is great and I am very thankful for the blessing that he has given me and other believers. I am sure, though, he would have loved to have known from all those he helped how great his work was to them. The GOD part of him was to be reborn in that moment, but I am sure the man part of him would have enjoyed that. Make sure that the people who go hard for you and those you really care about know that YOU love them.

Where do we from here?

Love can be complicated. For today, that means that at the start of a new year, it is all too easy to tell people we love them. However, fast forward several months when we find ourselves in the midst of a difficult time, yes those will happen again this year, too, when major problems crop up, ideologies clash, and things that get in the way of loving others are in full view, hindering our capacity to love the “others”, may we all be reminded of a different kind of love: God’s love. A love that knows no boundaries, knows no limits or capacity and even knows no sense of withholding love. May we all love as God calls us to love this new year and each and every day.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, thank you for placing us in a position to be able to honor you each and every day and giving us the ability to love. It is that same love that we need to share with others to aid in the world being a better place. Allow those of us who have but a small amount of your strength to honor those who need us today and every day after this one. Allow us to honor them as you have honored us with your presence. Amen.