September 2, 2012

Scriptures for September 2nd: Song of Solomon 2:8-13; Psalm 45; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23; Theme: The love of God and us Song of Solomon: This is the only time that we will read from the Song of Solomon. On the surface this is a love story. It tells of a young girls preparations to marry the love of her life. We don’t hear from it because of its sexual overtones. But it can also be interpreted as the beginnings of the love story of God and us. God prepares for us. But more importantly, our faith journey here on earth is about us preparing for a lifelong relationship with God. This book is considered a part of wisdom literature. Wisdom is a big part of the Jewish faith. It is said that wisdom sat alongside God as he created the earth. Wisdom cries out in the streets for us to understand the ways of the creator. The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. In order for us to know love, we have to respect the power of God. That is how we prepare ourselves for God to come into our lives, in fear and trembling. James: How do we prepare for a love affair with God, by living according the God’s precepts laid out for us in book such as James. We are not for sure if this was written by James, the brother of Jesus. But what we do know is that he lays out five understandings that every Christian should have. First God always sides with the poor over the rich, God does not need to test us, we test ourselves, God gives to all of us abundantly, life demands that we make a choice for God or the world, if we are faithful, we receive from God but we have to ask for it. If we believe these things about God and about our lives, then we must live them in our lives. Questions: Have you ever been madly in love with someone or something? Are you madly in love with God? Why do we frown upon the expression of deep love in our society? Do you think about faith, or do you live your faith? What is the difference? What do you think about the five beliefs about God?