hail mary

i've always had this fascination with catholicism. not necessarily the views they hold, but how devoted the religion is and howmuch they stress confession. i almost bought a book one time entitled "the idiot's guide to catholicism." i once even searched for rosarie beads at the market in downtown san antonio. anyways, all this to say how excited i was when searching for a lectureship class to attend and stumbled across one titled "discovering your inner catholic." this class was taught by jim hinkle, youth minister at the highland c of C here in abilene. the class focused on ancient rituals that began back in the roman catholic times and have somewhat withstood the breakoff of the protestants from catholicism. anyways, he offered several rituals that all seemed truly spiritual and seeking in their own ways. today i want to explain lectio divina, or sacred reading.

this is something more than just Bible study. this is when you feel like you read and can't get into the Word the way God intended us to. there are four acts in the ladder of monastics: reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. these are pretty self-explanatory, but if you choose to do these, make sure you are in a relaxed state and that you truly prepare yourself for an encounter with God. i know this is kind of scary for those of us who grew up conservatively, but i promise there is nothing about this discipline that is not Biblical. anyways...just thought i'd explain that to tell you what truth God revealed to me during one of these times.

in mark 13:32-37, Jesus talks about being alert and watching for the return. He compares it to a master leaving his house and putting all of the servants in charge. he also puts one servant at the gate just to watch. the Bible talks alot about watching, and this goes back to night watchman in the old testament times. their only job was to sit outside the gate and watch for any enemies approaching. oh how they must have waited for that first glimpse of sunlight. the psalmist says he waits and watches for the Lord even more than the watchman waits for the morning. back to mark...and i don't even know if he did this on purpose...but in verse 36 he says "if he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping." now when you read the account of the stoning of stephen and other pauline letters, people often interpret the greek word for death as sleeping. stephen "fell asleep" and paul warns about "falling asleep." i think what mark is saying here is that we shouldn't be putting ourselves in situations that are deadly to our spiritual lives b/c we don't want Jesus to come back and find us sleeping/dying. we as Christians have a duty to live with the freedom He has given us. we need to quit living like we are slaves in bondage. we need to start living like we are free - free of the burden of sin and free of the guilt of satan. rejoice in the Lord's salvation. call me a Christian hedonist, but i truly believe the Lord finds joy in us when we find joy in Him.