Home > Reading > The Daily Lectionary – May 27, 2016

2john5-5

Proverbs 8:1–21; 2 John 1–13; Matthew 12:1–14

The Holy Spirit, the wisdom of Proverbs, calls us to “walk in the way of righteousness.” God is always calling us to “hear” and “learn sense” so that we might walk with him in the truth. But how do we know we are walking in the way of the Spirit, that God’s will is being done in our lives? Loving one another, as John exhorts, is a strong indicator.

Loving each other means so much more than enjoying those whom we like and putting up with the others. Real love means that we are walking in righteousness together, that we are walking according to the commandments. In Jesus, we learn to do more than keep religious regulations; we learn to be yoked with him (Matt 11:29–30). We learn to walk this way, to live together this way, by Jesus’ example. We have “heard from the beginning” about loving one another in this way of Christian discipleship, this life together. That is how Jesus loves his disciples. So, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:9). This is exactly what Jesus commands all of his disciples—including you—when he says, “Follow me.”

Prayer: Lord of the Sabbath, help me to follow you. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Mark Ryman, Communications Coordinator for the NALC.