Daily Devotion

This daily devotion is based on the Morning Office. It comes with selected readings from the appointed Psalm and another Scripture text, accompanied by reflections and prayers. There is an audio option. This devotion is suitable for personal and family devotions. It will be best to both read and listen. The link to the entire Morning Office today is provided at the end of each devotion. This project started on Ash Wednesday, 2025 and are offered for weekdays only.

Hearts like Rivers

Audio

Prepare

Today is Monday, the 24th of March. As we start another week in Lent, let us continue to journey with Christ.

Psalm Reading

The appointed psalm for today is Psalm 1, which contains a beatitude.

¹ Blessed is the man
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Scripture Reading

The Scripture Reading is John 7:37-39.

³⁷On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 
³⁸Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 
³⁹Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Reflection

Jesus has said that he is the food that we need. Now, He said that He can quench our thirst. This is similar to the promise He made to the woman at the well. On this occasion, He also promise something more. We will not only be quenched. We will be a source of living water, bringing life to many. This will happen through the gift of the Spirit, who will be poured out after Jesus is resurrected, ascended and glorified. This is the promise of Pentecost.

Wherever we go, deserts can be turned into springs.
Whomever we meet, we can carry His presence into their lives.
We can be a source of refreshment and encouragement to others.

As Jesus has said, if we follow Him, He will make us fishers of men. The Holy Spirit is given to bring this to pass. He is given not just to save us, but to fill us that we may overflow and be a blessing to many.

Prayer

We still our hearts and pray.

When you think of a river, what image comes to mind? Now think about the Holy Spirit. What would it look like for the Spirit to flow from your heart and through you like a river?

Does your life with the Spirit look like what Jesus described? If not, ask God if there is anything inhibiting the work of the Spirit in you. 

Pray and ask God to help you to trust in Him more and more, so that the Holy Spirit may flow through you. 

Collect

We end with the collect for the day:

Almighty God,
whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, 
and entered not into glory before he was crucified:
mercifully grant that we, 
walking in the way of the cross, 
may find it none other than the way of life and peace; 
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you, 
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen

Link to today’s Morning Office