Week: Mark's Gospel
As usual, we start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Holy Spirit, You are the best teacher. As we explore the Bible and listen to You, please help us to understand more about You, and draw closer to You.
Mary Jones was born in Wales in 1784, and she became a Christian when she was just 8 years old. From a very young age, she longed to know God better, so let’s begin by REFLECTING on one of King David’s Psalms, where he expresses that same longing.
Read by Kate
Psalm 63:1-5 (NCV)
Psalm 63:1-5
God, you are my God. I search for you.
I thirst for you like someone in a dry, empty land where there is no water.
I have seen you in the Temple and have seen your strength and glory.
Because your love is better than life, I will praise you.
I will praise you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name.
I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods.
My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise you.
Mary Jones wanted to learn more about God, but she could only speak and read Welsh and there were hardly any Bibles in the Welsh language. The closest one she could find was at a farm, two miles away, so she walked there as often as she could just to read it.
Bibles were really expensive back then, but Mary longed to have one of her own, so she saved all her money for six years so she could buy one. But then the only person she could find who sold Bibles was a church leader called Thomas Charles, and he lived 26 miles away, across a mountain range! When Mary was only 15 years old she packed herself some bread and cheese and walked those 26 miles to Thomas’s house, but when she arrived, he didn’t have any left! Thomas Charles was so impressed by Mary’s passion for the Bible that he promised to get her one – and he actually gave her two extra copies for free.
But this story doesn’t end there, because Mary’s struggle to get a Bible in her own language eventually inspired a group of Christians to form what is now called the Bible Society, and they work to make the Bible available to everyone, everywhere. Since it started over 200 years ago, The Bible Society has given away millions of Bibles and translated it into hundreds of languages – all because of Mary Jones.
Mary saved all her money for six years to get her Bible. Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is: What have we saved our money for? (Maybe we’re still saving for something?)
These days, it’s easy for most of us to get a Bible – in fact, we can download one onto our smart phones – and so maybe we take it for granted.
Loving God, we ASK You to give us the same passion for the Bible – for Your Word – that Mary had. We want to learn more about You, and we want to know You more deeply too.
Around the world, many organisations like The Bible Society are still translating the Bible into more languages so that everyone, everywhere can learn about Jesus.
Loving God, we ASK You to help those who are translating the Bible. Give them wisdom, help them to understand, inspire their imaginations – give them everything they need to make Your Word come alive in new languages.
When Mary returned home to her village (after walking the 26 miles back in the other direction!) she shared her precious new Bibles with her whole community.
The wonderful things we discover about God are meant to be shared, so let’s ASK God who we can share what we’ve been learning through Lectio for Families with.
Pause
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to treasuring the Bible and YES to sharing what we learn about You with others.
Pause
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
Sources:
https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-us/our-history
https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/content/about_us/our_history/files/mary_jones_and_her_bible_v2.pdf
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Kate is 11 and lives in Melbourne Australia, with her parents, younger sister, and puppy Leo. Kate loves visual arts, reading, playing basketball and spending time with her family.
