Where will we run for safety and security- Where can we turn for a sure defence- We need something, somewhere, someone who can care for us body and soul, in life and death, for time and eternity.--With you trust in the science- The nation- The government- The medicine- The experts- The people- The stuff- The magic- Some of these are good and useful in their place, appointed by God to serve in a particular sphere, but they cannot provide the protection and preservation that we need.--The believer can say of the Lord, -He is my refuge and my fortress- my God, in him I will trust.-

This simple history sets before us a matter of choice, an issue of perspective, a question of priority.--It begins with a happy occasion, Martha, with her sister Mary, opening their home to Christ and his disciple, and extending a warm and generous hospitality.--An unpleasant is introduced when Mary sits at the Lord's feet to hear his words. Martha's frustration bubbles over, as ours is prone to do.--Christ issues a gracious correction, compassionately and insightfully resetting Martha's priorities around the things that are of first importance, Mary having chosen the good part which endures.--Are you and I willing to have our priorities set, or reset, by the primacy of Christ and his word-

It is easy to be blinded by familiarity when we come to the parable of the Samaritan. To feel its proper force, we need to consider the question the teacher of the law asked, then understand the story the Saviour told, the question the Saviour posed, and the challenge the Saviour issued. Taken in context, this is not instruction to the disciples about the way of life, but correction for the lawyer about the way to life. Properly understood, it leaves us exposed, renouncing our own imagined righteousness, and looking for the true righteousness of another.

Death comes to all, and sometimes it makes us cling to this life.----The author of Psalm 103 faces the reality of death with clear-eyed honesty. He speaks of failing man, like grass, like the flower of the field, soon withering and fading, its place remembering it no more.----He speaks of unfailing mercy, the covenant love and enduring righteousness of the God of heaven, by which he saves and keeps his people.----He speaks, too, of the marks of mercy, the indications of those who have tasted and are resting on the mercies of the Lord- righteously fearful, covenantally faithful, and never forgetful, proving in all things that they are God's and that he is theirs.----The unfailing mercies of God thus prove the only true refuge for failing men.

Having directed the disciples in their joy, our Lord now rejoices in the Spirit himself. Luke records his words, giving us a window into the soul do our Saviour as he exults over the salvation of God.--We listen as he speaks to his Father -sounding notes of proper honour and sovereign mercy-, as he testifies of salvation -as the one sent to reveal God to men-, and as he speaks to his disciples -making plain their blessing and their privilege-.

God's people love one another, and that love is patterned after the love that God has shown toward us. This love rises above anything that the world demands or offers.----It is not mere natural affection- it is not mercenary attachment- it is not party spirit or a gang mentality- it is not hypocritical inconsistency.----It is a love that is fashioned by the experience of being loved by God in Christ.