Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Devotional for Palm Sunday

Devotional for Palm Sunday
by Vickie Machado

Is not this the fast that I choose:
    to loose the bonds of injustice,
    to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
    and to break every yoke? (Isaiah 58: 6, NRSV)

I love biking around town. It’s an easy, sustainable form of transportation. However, choosing to bike to work or school is a lot easier than having no other transportation options. When stormy weather moves in or if heavy loads appear, I reluctantly (yet thankfully) start up my car. Often times we forget that choice is a powerful gift. Choices provide a sense of control, autonomy, and privilege. We all have decisions in life, some more optimal than others. When situations are dire, our choices seem to dwindle. They become harder to make as the question becomes: feed the children or put gas in the car to go to work in an effort to create a sustainable source of income? It is choices like these that are difficult to make. A lack of options takes away decision-making abilities and reduces a person to a follower, a child, unable to decide their path in life.

As people of faith, we have the choice everyday to follow God. We choose how we live our lives. A positive choice to follow our Creator does not always mean an easy choice.  We decide the fast we take. To choose to loosen the bonds of injustice is a choice for justice. To choose to undo the thongs of the yoke is a choice for freedom. Injustice and oppression are a lack of opportunity. If we have the choice to fast, to follow Christ, and to undo the hurt in our world, then we are making the decision to expand that choice to others. A fast is much easier to make when you choose it. God is not demanding we stand for justice, listen to the voiceless or help our down-trodden brothers and sisters, out of spite but rather, is asking us to choose, with love in our hearts, to stand against oppression. Choosing justice is a decision to stand in solidarity with the poor, care for the earth, and promote sustainable, healthy futures for everyone. Choosing justice is choosing to stand for God, God’s people, and all of Creation.

Prayer: God, thank you for this day. Thank you for the choices you place in my life. Please help my actions to further your kingdom by breaking the bonds of injustice and providing healthy, sustainable choices to others and your creation.

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Vickie Machado lives in Florida and is part of the Leadership Team for the EcoStewards program, a grassroots community that shapes young adult leaders (ages 20-30) through place-based experiences that connect faith and the environment. For more information see: https://ecostewardsprogram.wordpress.com


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