March 7 Lenten Meditation, Prayer, Scripture.

​Reject me not, my Saviour, though I am held fast by the slothfulness of sin.  But rouse my thoughts to repentance, and make me a tried laborer in Thy vineyard; grant me the reward of the eleventh hour, and show me Thy great mercy. (from vespers for the first Monday of Lent).

Genesis 1:1-13 (Vespers, 1st reading)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

4

And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

5

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”

7

Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

8

And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9

Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

10

And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.

12

And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

13

So the evening and the morning were the third day.

Proverbs 1:1-20 (Vespers, 2nd reading)

1

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

2

To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding,

3

to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity;

4

to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion –

5

a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,

6

to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles.

7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8

My son, hear the instruction of your father,

9

for they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck.

10

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

11

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

12

let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the Pit;

13

we shall find all kinds of precious possessions, we shall fill our houses with spoil;

14

cast in your lot among us, let us all have one purse” –

15

my son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path;

16

for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

17

Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird;

18

but they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives.

19

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners.

20

Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares.

Conclude your time with God by taking 5 minutes to sit quietly and pray the Jesus Prayer – “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me the Sinner.”