Daily Devotion

Voice: Doreen

Today is Friday, the 8th of May. Let us be still in His presence.

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The appointed psalm for today is Psalm 138

¹    I give you thanks, O  Lord , with my whole heart;
before  the gods I sing your praise;

^2. I bow down  toward your  holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

^3. On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.

⁴    All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O  Lord ,
for they have heard the words of your mouth,

^5. and they shall sing of  the ways of the  Lord ,
for great is the glory of the  Lord .

⁶    For though the  Lord  is high, he regards the lowly,
but the haughty he knows from afar.

⁷    Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you  preserve my life;
you  stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your  right hand delivers me.

⁸ The  Lord  will  fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O  Lord , endures forever.
Do not forsake  the work of your hands.

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.

Luke 6:1-5

¹On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ²But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God.

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At the tips of your fingers

One can quite easily walk through a wheat field. The light stalks part as you pass, brushing against your waist and fingertips. As you move along, you can pluck the grains almost without thinking. It is no labor at all—hardly something you could call “work.”

If the disciples had broken the Sabbath law that day, it was by the slightest margin—just by the tips of their fingers. Yet the law is the law. Cross the line, however slightly, and you are judged as guilty. The irony of this moment should not be lost on us.

So the Pharisees confronted Jesus: “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?“

Were the disciples guilty? Jesus did not answer them directly. Instead, He reminded them of the story in 1 Samuel 21, where David and his men ate the consecrated bread reserved only for priests. If even David, God’s chosen king, did this, what then? From that story Jesus declared:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath is perhaps God’s greatest gift to the world: the command to rest. Once every seven days, God calls us to stop our labor, to join in worship, and to share life with family and community.

If Sabbath were only a law, breaking it would be as easy as brushing grain from its stalk. But that is not why God gave it. The Sabbath was never meant to enslave us; it was meant to bless us.

Jesus Himself would go on to fulfill the law, making the true blessings of the Sabbath available to all. For Christians, our day of worship and rest flows out of this Sabbath principle. It is no longer a legal burden. In Christ, we do not “break” the Sabbath—but we are invited to live out its blessing.

For some, this may fall on a Sunday; for others, perhaps on another day of the week. What matters is not the rule but the rhythm: rest, worship, and community.

When you honor life as God designed it, you will not live with regret. The gift is right there—at your fingertips. Reach out, and take hold of it.

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In closing we pray:

You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. Amen.

(from St. Augustine in his book, Confessions)

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In closing, be blessed by this song, Song for the Sabbath
​written by Hilary Lim
performed by Calvin Gan

Can we lay our burdens down
Lose our striving to be found
By the One who bears our load

Can we let our plans fall through
Walk another mile or two
With a stranger on the road

Our Father feeds the sparrows
The hours and times are His

We can leave the land to rest
For He gives what we need today
We can live with open hands    
To bless the ones who come our way
Come our way

Can we give until it hurts
Love our neighbour in the dirt
Of the brokenness we share

Can we turn the other cheek
Be gentle with the weak
Live more humbly than we dare

We’re seeds that live by dying
Our Father makes us grow

We can leave the land to rest
For He gives what we need today
We can live with open hands
To bless the ones who come our way
Come our way

Link to full Morning Office