# Following and being led Day 3 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Dear Lord Jesus,* *I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, popularity, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to those voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life. I know this will be a very hard road for me. The choice for your way has to be made every moment of my life. I have to choose thoughts that are your thoughts, words that are your words, and actions that are your actions. There are no times and places without choices. And I know how deeply I resist choosing you. Please, Lord, be with me at every moment and in every place. Give me the strength and courage to live my life faithfully, so that I will be able to taste with joy the new life which you have prepared for me. Amen. (The Road to Daybreak by Henri J.M. Nouwen)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 77 #### In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord #### To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. *77 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. 2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.* *3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah* *4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.5 I consider the days of old, the years long ago.6 I said,[a] “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?* *9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?nHas he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah* *10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”[b]11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.12 I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.15 You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah* *16 When the waters saw you, O God,when the waters saw you, they were afraid;indeed, the deep trembled.17 The clouds poured out water;the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side.18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world;the earth trembled and shook.19 Your way was through the sea,your path through the great waters;yet your footprints were unseen.[c]20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.* #### Scripture for the Day: Luke 18:18-30 #### The Rich Ruler *18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers[a] or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”* #### Reading for Reflection: **The call to follow implies that there is only one way of believing in Jesus, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God. The first step places the disciple in the situation where faith is possible. If he refuses to follow and stays behind, he does not learn how to believe.* *So long as Levi sits at the receipt of custom, and Peter at his nets, they both pursue their trade honestly and dutifully, and they might both enjoy religious experiences, old and new. But if they want to believe in God, the only way is to follow His incarnate Son. Until that day, everything had been different. They could remain in obscurity, pursuing their work as the quiet in the land, observing the Law and waiting for the coming Messiah. But now He has come, and His call goes forth. Faith can no longer mean sitting still and waiting—they must rise and follow Him. The call frees them from all earthly ties, and binds them to Jesus Christ alone.* The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus. Unless a definite step is demanded, the call vanishes into thin air. (Selections from the Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: He Leadth Me *He leadeth me, O blessed thought!* *O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!* *Whate’er I do, where’er I be* *Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.* *Refrain:* *He leadeth me, He leadeth me,* *By His own hand He leadeth me;* *His faithful foll’wer I would be,* *For by His hand He leadeth me.* *Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,* *Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,* *By waters still, o’er troubled sea,* *Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.* *Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,* *Nor ever murmur nor repine;* *Content, whatever lot I see,* *Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.* *And when my task on earth is done,* *When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,* *E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,* *Since God through Jordan leadeth me*. ### Closing Prayer: *Drive far from us all wrong desires and incline our hearts to keep Your ways: Grant that having cheerfully done Your will this day, we may, when night comes rejoice and give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Worship)*