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Opening Prayer: Lord God, forgive us for wanting to just nibble on the edges of faith rather than committing ourselves to the whole thing.  You gave your all for us and you require all of us in return.  Help us to feed fully on you, and to stop feeding at the table of this world any longer.  Amen. 

Scripture: John 6:53-57

Journal: Why do you think this teaching was so hard to accept?  What is God really asking of us?  What is he asking of you this day?  Are you willing to go there?

Reflection: We, who have heard the call of our God to a life of entire consecration and perfect trust, must do differently from all this.  We must come out from the world and be separate, and must not be conformed to it in our characters or in our lives.  We must set our affections on heavenly things and not on earthly ones, and must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, surrendering everything that would interfere with this.  We must walk through the world as Christ walked.  We must have the mind that was in Him.  As pilgrims and strangers, we must abstain from lusts of the flesh that war against the soul.  As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must disentangle ourselves from the affairs of this life as far as possible, that we may please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers.  We must abstain from all appearance of evil.  We must be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven us.  We must not resent injuries or unkindness, but must return good for evil, and turn the other cheek to the hand that smites us.  We must take always the lowest place among fellow-men; and seek not our own honor, but the honor of others.  We must be gentle and meek and yielding, not standing up for our own rights but for the rights of others.  We must do all that we do for the glory of God.  And, to sum it all up, since He who hath called us is holy, so must we be holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to be more committed to your kingdom and your glory than I am to my own.  Give me the strength and the courage to choose your hard and demanding way, rather than a life of ease and comfort.  Help me to feed on you, rather than feeding on the things this world has to offer.  Amen.