Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 70; Exodus 3:1-15; John 14:6-14; Hebrews 11:23-31; Psalm 135
There were two sections from today’s readings that seemed as if they had almost been written as companion pieces for one another. John 14:12 in the NIV reads: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” The reading from Hebrews then picks up on this theme and contains a litany of the great things that have been done by people such as Moses’ parents, Moses, the people of Jericho and Rahab. And how did they do these great things? The constant refrain in Hebrews tells us – “by their faith”. These readings reminded me of the first time in my adult life when I was reading the book of Acts and realized that the disciples were actually performing many of the miracles that Jesus had performed during his lifetime. I was shocked! I was shocked because I had been raised with such a notion that Jesus was special because he was the only one who could do such things. As a result of that teaching, I never opened myself to the notion that the God of Jesus could actually empower others to do such things. Today’s readings reminded me that one of the many things Jesus accomplished was to open our eyes to that reality: God didn’t just empower Jesus to do remarkable things; through our faith, God empowers US to do remarkable things as well. If your loved ones were to read the passage from Hebrews and insert your name into it so that it read “By faith _________ did….”, I wonder how would that passage read? I hope you’ll spend the rest of your life first discerning how they would finish that sentence, and then putting that newly formed passage into action! Til next time…
There were two sections from today’s readings that seemed as if they had almost been written as companion pieces for one another. John 14:12 in the NIV reads: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” The reading from Hebrews then picks up on this theme and contains a litany of the great things that have been done by people such as Moses’ parents, Moses, the people of Jericho and Rahab. And how did they do these great things? The constant refrain in Hebrews tells us – “by their faith”. These readings reminded me of the first time in my adult life when I was reading the book of Acts and realized that the disciples were actually performing many of the miracles that Jesus had performed during his lifetime. I was shocked! I was shocked because I had been raised with such a notion that Jesus was special because he was the only one who could do such things. As a result of that teaching, I never opened myself to the notion that the God of Jesus could actually empower others to do such things. Today’s readings reminded me that one of the many things Jesus accomplished was to open our eyes to that reality: God didn’t just empower Jesus to do remarkable things; through our faith, God empowers US to do remarkable things as well. If your loved ones were to read the passage from Hebrews and insert your name into it so that it read “By faith _________ did….”, I wonder how would that passage read? I hope you’ll spend the rest of your life first discerning how they would finish that sentence, and then putting that newly formed passage into action! Til next time…
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