{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Reflections","title":"Monday of the Fourteenth Week After Trinity","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":381,"description":"September 7, 2026\n\nToday's Reading: Proverbs 4:10-23\nDaily Lectionary: 2 Kings 4:38-5:8; Ephesians 6:1-24\n\n“Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.” (Proverbs 4:13)\n\nIn the Name + of Jesus. Amen.\n\nLegos come with instructions. Furniture from IKEA comes with instructions. Your teacher gives you instructions. Your parents give you instructions. All these are very helpful to complete a task or tasks throughout life. Without them, you might still get the Legos built or figure out how to change your wiper blades, eventually.\nSo when the author of Proverbs says, “Keep hold of instructions,” we might be tempted to think about some simple instructions for how to get things done, like building a bird house or baking a cake, or maybe how to have a good life with lots of friends and money and power and few enemies. But this instruction is so much more. We’re told not to let it go, not to lose it or let it slip through our fingers. We’re told to guard, to preserve it, not just some of it, but all of it,  because this is an instruction in your life. Not what keeps you breathing, but your eternal life, salvation in Christ Jesus.\nInstruction here is another way to say “all the teachings of the Scriptures”. Central to the teaching, all the instruction, is Jesus Christ, who gave His blood on the tree of the cross to forgive your sin and grant you life eternal with Him. This instruction is what you are or have been taught in catechesis classes and in the preaching of your pastor each Sunday. It is faith and knowledge of Christ Jesus crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of all your sin. This instruction in Christ Jesus is your life, here in time, and for eternity.\nSo guard it well. It should be held onto tighter than your phone. Guard it includes feeding it, regularly attending the Divine Service to hear the preaching of the Word, to be reminded that you are a baptized child of God, to receive the Absolution of all your sins, and to eat of...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/P3eUvssXYVZBQK4BZg1UEKstUh8zuVz_CoZCK6YjRSs/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI1MTcyLzE3MDI0/Mjg1MzAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}