Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 145 & 43; Zechariah 6:1-15; Luke 23:32-43; Romans 11:29-36
There are a lot of words that we like to use these days to describe a person of faith. Drawing from the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, we like to describe people of faith with words like patient, kind, loving, and merciful. Now don’t get me wrong – all of these are perfectly wonderful adjectives that should be used to describe a person of faith. The last verse of today’s reading from Zechariah give us another word to use: a word that’s fallen out of favor these days. That last verse in The Message reads: “All this follows as you put your minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of your God.” I wonder how many folks would use the word obedient to describe a person of faith these days. That’s a tough word for most of us to embrace these days because it threatens our world that’s been constructed on the individual. Anything that threatens the autonomy of the individual turns our stomachs! The more I think about the word obedient, however, the more I realize its importance in living a life of faith. You see you can practice all the other qualities I listed above (patience, kindness, love, and mercy) and do so on YOUR times and on YOUR terms. You can be patient when it suits you; you can be kind when the other person is deserving of kindness; you can be loving when you are around those who you feel are lovable; and you can be merciful when you feel its appropriate. But the word obedience changes everything. It reminds us that we can’t take on those qualities of God when WE feel like it; instead, we must take on those qualities in response to God and practice them on GOD’S terms (i.e. 24 hours a day/7 days a week). If I were to ask your loved ones to describe you as a person of faith, how many would use Zechariah’s word “obedient”? Today, think about your willingness to embrace the word obedience and then see where the word obedience leads you. Til next time…
There are a lot of words that we like to use these days to describe a person of faith. Drawing from the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, we like to describe people of faith with words like patient, kind, loving, and merciful. Now don’t get me wrong – all of these are perfectly wonderful adjectives that should be used to describe a person of faith. The last verse of today’s reading from Zechariah give us another word to use: a word that’s fallen out of favor these days. That last verse in The Message reads: “All this follows as you put your minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of your God.” I wonder how many folks would use the word obedient to describe a person of faith these days. That’s a tough word for most of us to embrace these days because it threatens our world that’s been constructed on the individual. Anything that threatens the autonomy of the individual turns our stomachs! The more I think about the word obedient, however, the more I realize its importance in living a life of faith. You see you can practice all the other qualities I listed above (patience, kindness, love, and mercy) and do so on YOUR times and on YOUR terms. You can be patient when it suits you; you can be kind when the other person is deserving of kindness; you can be loving when you are around those who you feel are lovable; and you can be merciful when you feel its appropriate. But the word obedience changes everything. It reminds us that we can’t take on those qualities of God when WE feel like it; instead, we must take on those qualities in response to God and practice them on GOD’S terms (i.e. 24 hours a day/7 days a week). If I were to ask your loved ones to describe you as a person of faith, how many would use Zechariah’s word “obedient”? Today, think about your willingness to embrace the word obedience and then see where the word obedience leads you. Til next time…
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