Daily Prayer: a resource of Forward Movement

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for January 19, 2021

We post a Forward Day by Day Meditation for every day of the year - and we invite you to consider them and talk about them here. If you'd like to comment, you can log in to Disqus with your Facebook, Twitter, or Google account; just click "Login," or the appropriate logo below. Or, you can sign up for a Disqus account; just use the entry form below, or click the "D" logo to start the process. You can find the past week's Meditations in the box at right (or below, for mobile users), or search for previous entries on the Archives page. You can also listen to the Forward Day by Day podcast anywhere you find podcasts!

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TUESDAY, January 19 Wulfstan of Worcester

Mark 3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.

We have two families—the family we get and the family that we make for ourselves. Jesus points to a kinship above and beyond the reality of blood. I think the old gospel song, “Blessed Be the Tie that Binds,” preaches this word, too.

What Jesus is suggesting is that there is a bloodline that runs through baptism. When we receive baptism into the Christian family, we are marked as Christ’s own forever. Baptism changes our lives—who we are, who we belong to, how we will be in the world. It is an adoption service. God has loved every person all along. When we choose baptism, we say for ourselves or for those we vow to raise in the faith: We are the household of God, and we are family.

MOVING FORWARD: Make plans for a reunion with your family of choice.

PRAY for the United Church of Bangladesh

Ps 26, 28 * 36, 39 | Isaiah 44:9-20 | Ephesians 4:17-32 | Mark 3:19b-35