The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.  (Ephesians 4:1-16)

I have a friend who periodically posts on Facebook that when she hears the sounds of Lego bricks she wants to put everything down and join her children for a while.

In our family, playing with Legos absorbed us completely — and I suspect it was the same way for you.

Simon and Jude are two disciples that we don’t know much about, but we do know that they were absorbed completely in the new life that Jesus called them into. The prayer book calls that quality “ardent devotion” — eager love for Jesus and for life lived in his Way.

Following Jesus ought to be our highest joy, but too often it looks and sounds like Christians are the gloomiest people around.

What might you need to remember in order to recapture that joy? The sights and sounds of a beautiful worship service? The steady hand of a friend when you were in trouble? The infectious laughter of the youth group? The stimulation of a study group?

May God grant you that ardor and rekindle your devotion.

Collect of the Day

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP 245)