Inspire

As we look ahead to our Bible Gifting service this Sunday, I have been thinking about God's Word and the way He speaks to us. We value our Church congregation's gift to our Reception children each year as they help our children to hold God's word in their hands, that He may speak to them through their Children's Bible. God speaks to all of us through His written word and He also speaks to us in many other ways - it is up to us to be listening for it. We see this in 1 Samuel 3, where God calls Samuel three times. Each time, Samuel confuses God's voice for his teacher Eli's voice and each time Eli does not even hear God calling. How often do we think we know the path we are meant to follow, or the actions we are meant to take? The more confident we are in this 'knowledge', the more often we can forget to listen to God and the harder it can be to hear His voice calling us. When we seek out God, we find Him (Jeremiah 129:13-14) and when we listen for His voice, we will hear it. As we come towards the halfway point of our year, may we remember to listen for God's voice and to hear His call. 

Dear God, 

We thank you for being a God who loves us and wants to connect with us. We thank you that you are not a distant God, that you are a God who wants to live in relationship with us and to bring us closer to you. Help us to hold our plans lightly and to keep space for your grand plans. Remind us to listen for your voice, to the actions you are calling us to take and the ways we can live out your love in our world. Amen.

Submitted by Graham Buxton