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Collect
God of truth,
help us to keep your law of love
and to walk in ways of wisdom,
that we may find true life
in Jesus Christ your Son. Amen.
Matthew 6.24-34
‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25 ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
34 ‘So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
from Psalm 41
Blessed are those who consider the poor and needy;
the Lord will deliver them in the time of trouble.
The Lord preserves them and restores their life,
that they may be happy in the land;
he will not hand them over to the will of their enemies.
The Lord sustains them on their sickbed;
their sickness, Lord, you will remove.
And so I said, ‘Lord, be merciful to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against you.’
My enemies speak evil about me,
asking when I shall die and my name perish.
If they come to see me, they utter empty words;
their heart gathers mischief;
when they go out, they tell it abroad.
All my enemies whisper together against me,
against me they devise evil,
Saying that a deadly thing has laid hold on me,
and that I will not rise again from where I lie.
Even my bosom friend, whom I trusted,
who ate of my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.
But you, O Lord, be merciful to me
and raise me up, that I may reward them.