Davidman: endless youth

Tuesday, October 6, 2026
    Feast of William Tyndale, Translator of the Scriptures, Martyr, 1536
Meditation:
    Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
    —Matthew 5:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “Thou shalt not” is the beginning of wisdom. But the end of wisdom, the new law, is, “Thou shalt.” To be Christian is to be old? Not a bit of it. To be Christian is to be reborn, and free, and unafraid, and immortally young.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955, reprint, Westminster John Knox Press, 1985, p. 20 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:11-12; Ps. 143:8-10; John 16:13; Gal. 4:6; 5:16,18,22-25; Rom. 8:13-14; 2 Tim. 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long for the full measure of life You promise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Coslett: the qualified gardener

Monday, October 5, 2026
Meditation:
    And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.”
    —Matthew 15:10-13 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden.
    It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds. We must learn and labor to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities, which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life.
    ... Evan S. Coslett (1830-1939), Leaves of Gold, Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 150 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 15:10-13; Isa. 60:21; Matt. 13:24-30,36-42; John 15:2,6; 1 Cor. 3:12-15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me to know the good plants in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Francis: joy

Sunday, October 4, 2026
    Feast of Francis of Assisi, Friar, Deacon, Founder of the Friars Minor, 1226
Meditation:
    When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
    —Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Study always to have Joy, for it befits not the servant of God to show before his brother or another sadness or a troubled face.
    ... St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), The Mirror of Perfection [c. 1280], tr. Robert Steele, London: J.M. Dent, 1903, p. 141 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:16-18; Mark 2:18; Luke 2:10; 10:21; John 15:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to maintain a cheerful demeanor. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Lewis: the Bible as literature?

Saturday, October 3, 2026
    Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896
    Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958
Meditation:
    This is what God the LORD says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
    “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”
    —Isaiah 42:5-7 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In most parts of the Bible, everything is implicitly or explicitly introduced with “Thus saith the Lord.” It is... not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite—it excludes or repels—the merely aesthetic approach. You can read it as literature only by a tour de force... It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long, except to those who go to it for something quite different. I predict that it will in the future be read, as it always has been read, almost exclusively by Christians.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), They Asked for a Paper, London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, p. 49 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 42:5-7; 28:16; Hag. 2:6-7; Mark 12:36; 1 Cor. 14:3,22; 1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Pet. 1:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word is both beautiful and powerful. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Phillips: reading as an adult

Friday, October 2, 2026
Meditation:
    For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
    —Colossians 2:1-3 (ESV)
Quotation:
    The testimony of the New Testament cannot be lightly disregarded, nor can the claims of Christ be airily dismissed. Many otherwise intelligent people have never read with adult attention either the four Gospels or the Letters of the New Testament. When they so do, to my certain knowledge, they not infrequently become converted. Indeed, I know of no adult who has seriously studied the New Testament and rejected the stories of Christ as mythical or the evidence of changed lives in the Letters as mere fabrication.
    ... J. B. Phillips (1906-1982), God With Us: a Message for Christmas, London: Epworth Press, 1957, p. 11 (see the book)
    See also Col. 2:1-3; Acts 4:31; 2 Cor. 4:2; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; 13:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I praise You for rescuing me from a life of skepticism and doubt. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: new every morning

Thursday, October 1, 2026
    Commemoration of Remigius, Bishop of Rheims, Apostle of the Franks, 533
    Commemoration of Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite Nun, Spiritual Writer, 1897
Meditation:
    For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
    —1 Corinthians 15:22 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Receive therefore every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life; meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God’s goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 248-249 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 15:22; Ps. 8:1; 30:5; 2 Cor. 4:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I praise You and thank You for new life this day. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chadwick: springing the trap

Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Meditation:
    And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
    —Mark 11:27-33 (ESV)
Quotation:
    Here [Mark 11:27-33] they discerned a flaw, a heresy; and they would force Him either to make a fatal claim, or else to moderate His pretensions at their bidding, which would promptly restore their lost influence and leadership.
    Nor need we shrink from confessing that our Lord was justly open to such reproach, unless He was indeed Divine, unless He was deliberately preparing His followers for that astonishing revelation, soon to come, which threw the Church upon her knees in adoration of her God manifest in flesh.
    ... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel According to St. Mark, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1891, p. 131 (see the book)
    See also Mark 11:27-33; Matt. 23:21-27; 26:3-4; Luke 20:1-8; 20:40; 22:2; John 5:18; 7:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You come to my heart with truth and power. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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