@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

The Right People

What can we expect if God has planned our path from eternity? We can trust that certain things will happen. These are things that God promises to those who follow Him. They are realities of a life of obedience to God. What are they? In this series of daily meditations, we will consider seven. The first is that because God has planned your path, you will be sent the right people at the right time. We all need people. The Bible says, “Woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:10, ESV). Walking with Jesus, we walk with the miracle-worker from Nazareth, and help will be there when God knows we need it. Just as it was when the disciples landed a miraculous catch of fish, a catch so great that they had to call for help. As Luke recounts the tale: “They signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink” (Luke 5:7, ESV). Never be afraid to call for help. God’s plans for us are too great for us to fulfil on our own.