Grant to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think
and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing
that is good without thee; may by thee be enabled to live according to
thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today’s Collect causes us to reflect on the connection between thought
and action. We pray for the spirit to think and do what is right in order
that we may be able to live according to God’s will. But why do we pray
for such a spirit? — Because the Collect reminds us that “we cannot do
anything that is good without thee”, echoing the words of our Saviour:
“...without me ye can do nothing” (John 15. 5).
We depend upon God’s gracious favour and Holy Spirit to put good desires
and thoughts into our hearts and minds, and then we depend upon that same
Holy Spirit to give us strength to put those desires and thoughts into
action.
God’s Holy Spirit must be active in us each step of the way. In the
first instance we simply rely on the goodness of God to bless us with good
and rightful desires. In the second instance we must cooperate with God’s
Holy Spirit by affirming these good desires and resisting the evil thoughts
that come to us. In the third instance we cooperate with God’s Holy Spirit
further by acting out those good and rightful thoughts and desires. Each
stage is important and necessary if we are going to live according to God’s
will. If we (1) deny the godly desires that come to us, (2) refuse to affirm
and encourage these desires and allow evil suggestions to overcome them,
or (3) don’t attempt to put these desires into action in our lives — then
we fail to glorify God.
Let us strive, therefore, to glorify God, not through our efforts alone,
but seeking the strength of God’s Holy Spirit. The Ven. W.J. Armitage,
one time Rector of St. Paul’s, Canon and Archdeacon of Halifax, Nova Scotia,
commented on this Collect:
The Holy Spirit is the author of good thoughts. He alone
can help us to fulfil the commandment to love God with all our mind. For
he alone can give us the mind which was in Christ Jesus. This prayer seeks
his guidance and controlling power over the mental processes.... The Holy
Spirit is the great Teacher. It is his office to take the things of Christ,
and to bring them home to the minds of men. The believer who looks to the
Holy Spirit for light and leading is literally ‘taught of God’.... The
whole secret lies in the power of the Holy Spirit, whose gracious assistance
we ask. (The Church Year, 1908).
The Epistle continues the theme of the connection of thought and action,
showing the judgments that fell upon the Israelites in their disregard
of God’s will in both their thought and their action. The Israelites sinned
in thought by refusing to encourage godly desires given to them and instead
“lusted after evil things.” This sin in thought was followed by sinful
deeds of sensual vices. They sinned because they trusted in themselves
and not in God.
Let us claim in our life the comfort, strength, and wisdom of God’s
Holy Spirit which enables us to reject evil, cling to good, and “live according
to his will, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
