WEDNESDAY, MAY 18
READ MATTHEW 12:43-45
MATTHEW 12:43 “When an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry country seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says to itself, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house standing empty, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come and live there — so that in the end, the person is worse off than he was before. This is how it will be for this wicked generation.”
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Planting a garden requires that the gardener prepare the soil, clearing it of vegetation that would hinder the growth of the crop to be planted and grown. For the crop’s ongoing protection, the gardener must constantly guard against weeds that grow up and seek to rob the plants of the nutrients needed for their maturity.
Weeds that destroy life and plants that nourish life grow in the same plot of land if the owner of the garden does not diligently tend to the garden.
During a 60 Minutes interview with Holocaust survivor Yehiel Dinur, who testified at the 1960 trial of Adolf Eichmann, Mike Wallace asked Dinur why he cried and then collapsed to the floor at the trial. Dinur explained that his reaction was not what he had anticipated. Although Eichmann personified evil, the encounter made Dinur realize that sin and evil are the natural human condition.
“I was afraid about myself,” Dinur concluded. “I saw that I am capable to do this . . . I am . . . exactly like he.”
Dinur’s words spoken fifty-six years ago still ring true today. If we do not tend our lives, we can allow evil to grow where we intended holiness. Evil, like weeds, actively seeks a place to dwell and flourish. When we stop tending our lives we become welcome homes for evil. We often think of people like Eichmann and others as “evil.” However, our foibles are more than little missteps without consequences; they build patterns of destructive behavior. A few weeds can take over an untended plot of land. Jesus warns us to fill our lives with words, actions, events, and people that sanctify our lives.
Lord, help me guard my heart from little evils so that no evil may find a welcome place in my life. Amen.[James Swanson Sr.]
Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr., has served the Mississippi Conference since 2012. He was elected into the Episcopacy in July 2004 by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, where he was first assigned to the Holston Conference (Knoxville, Tn). Bishop Swanson is a founding member of the Steering Committee for the Convocation of Pastors of African American United Methodist Churches.
Special Note: The image with the meditation was designed by Rev. Todd Pick and will be used in today’s worship service at General Conference.
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Planting a garden requires that the gardener prepare the soil, clearing it of vegetation that would hinder the growth of the crop to be planted and grown. For the crop’s ongoing protection, the gardener must constantly guard against weeds that grow up and seek to rob the plants of the nutrients needed for their maturity.
Weeds that destroy life and plants that nourish life grow in the same plot of land if the owner of the garden does not diligently tend to the garden.
During a 60 Minutes interview with Holocaust survivor Yehiel Dinur, who testified at the 1960 trial of Adolf Eichmann, Mike Wallace asked Dinur why he cried and then collapsed to the floor at the trial. Dinur explained that his reaction was not what he had anticipated. Although Eichmann personified evil, the encounter made Dinur realize that sin and evil are the natural human condition.
“I was afraid about myself,” Dinur concluded. “I saw that I am capable to do this . . . I am . . . exactly like he.”
Dinur’s words spoken fifty-six years ago still ring true today. If we do not tend our lives, we can allow evil to grow where we intended holiness. Evil, like weeds, actively seeks a place to dwell and flourish. When we stop tending our lives we become welcome homes for evil. We often think of people like Eichmann and others as “evil.” However, our foibles are more than little missteps without consequences; they build patterns of destructive behavior. A few weeds can take over an untended plot of land. Jesus warns us to fill our lives with words, actions, events, and people that sanctify our lives.
Lord, help me guard my heart from little evils so that no evil may find a welcome place in my life. Amen.[James Swanson Sr.]
Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr., has served the Mississippi Conference since 2012. He was elected into the Episcopacy in July 2004 by the Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference, where he was first assigned to the Holston Conference (Knoxville, Tn). Bishop Swanson is a founding member of the Steering Committee for the Convocation of Pastors of African American United Methodist Churches.
Special Note: The image with the meditation was designed by Rev. Todd Pick and will be used in today’s worship service at General Conference.
Our mailing address is:
The Upper Room Strategic Initiatives
PO Box 340007
Nashville, Tennessee 37203, United States
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