01 Jul 2002

Lord, I Do Not Want to Lose My Sensitivity

Father, I am afraid of becoming desensitized to the needs of the society around us. So much bad news is printed in the press everyday that I fear I may become so used to it and accept it as common fare. Foremost on my list of concerns are the cries of parents whose children have gone astray, side by side with the cries of the children whose parents have gone astray. Often, we know what is right to do, whether adult or child, but struggle to do that which is good for others and ourselves. Sometimes it is due to our weaknesses; more often it is due to our sins. As I grow older and recognise more of my sinful self, I have begun to see that mankind has not changed that much since the fall. As long as the "I" comes first in my life, others fade into the shadows, only to emerge in my list of priorities when "I" need them.

The first man saw his helpmate as a woman equal to him before the fall, but he saw her as Eve, the baby-making machine, after that.

The first woman lived in the freedom of being co-tenant and co-manager in God's garden before the fall. But she lived just to have more of her husband for herself after that! She was torn between wanting to be dependant only on her Creator, and wanting more of her husband than she was originally meant to have. Lord, help us to be what You made and saved us to be. Grant us the willingness to be transformed by the renewal of our minds, to be in the world but not of the world, we plead.

For Meditation and Prayer:
Romans 12:1-2