Sing to the Lord, and praise him! Proclaim every day the good news that he has saved us (Psalm 96.2, GNB).

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Opening

Speak these words out loud:

By his power God raised Jesus from the dead,
and he will raise us also.

1 Corinthians 6.14 (NIV)

Today’s Proverb

Read the proverb through three or four times, slowly. Pause in-between, maybe write it out by hand – savour the words, let them speak deeply to you.

Proverbs 22.14

The Bible has quite a lot to say about adultery – and none of it is good.

In the Old Testament it is one of the main pictures used to describe God’s people’s attitude to God: they are like an adulterous wife, he remains the faithful husband. There are examples of people committing adultery – and it doesn’t work out well! There are warnings in the Proverbs, and the Laws treats it as one of the most serious sins.

In the New Testament such warnings continue. Jesus said that even looking in lust at someone else means we have committed adultery with them in our hearts (Matthew 5.28). He refuses to condemn the ‘woman caught in adultery’ in John 8 – but tells her ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’ He was in no doubt that committing adultery – in body or in mind – is sinful.

Elite sports women and men sometimes talk about ‘visualisation’ – whereby they picture themselves winning, imagining themselves doing what they need to do to win. Of course the hours of training and practice help, but that mental discipline can help provide the marginal gains they need to beat their competitors.

That same is true of sin. The more we picture – or fantasise – ourselves committing a sin, the closer and closer we get to doing it. It might be done in secret, and we might tell ourselves ‘we aren’t harming anyone’ – but is that really true? For example in the case of adultery, if you regularly fantasise about other people, gradually over time you will withdraw emotionally from your spouse, who can’t live up to your fantasy. But the same applies to all sin, whether or not we are married.

Friends, we need to guard our imaginations as much as we guard our actions. I wonder if we might learn from this Proverb, and from elite sports – and start to visualise good instead of bad, as part of our fight against sin and temptation.

Prayers

Pray for Five – pray for your five friends / family from Thy Kingdom Come.

Our daily prayer sheet includes the names of everyone for whom we have a signed church family directory form – and local parishes and senior church leaders. Today we are praying for:

Joanne Ryder (All Souls)

Father, please bless them with your peace, and a deep awareness of your presence with them, every day and in every way.

We also pray for: Coleshill & Polesworth Deanery

Please pray for our leaders and healthcare workers, and all those working to keep us safe, well, and fed. Please pray that people would unselfishly put others before themselves.

Church Family Prayer

Come Holy Spirit,
and make us one in heart and action,
so that we can serve God faithfully:
abounding in love,
maturing in holiness,
and seeking out the lost.
Help us grow as disciples of Jesus –
in commitment, in depth, and in number –
that we may be a blessing to Amington;
to the glory and praise of God the Father.
Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

Closing Prayer

Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus
the only way to the Father.

Psalm 127.1, Hebrews 12.2 & John 14.6

May Christ our Saviour give us peace.
Amen.