Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, July 13, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Abide (v): to continue in a place: SOJOURN (Merriam Webster) I know I’ve put this definition in devotions before, but somehow, no matter how many times I read it, I lose track of the sense of it. God sojourns (takes up temporary residence) in anyone who confesses Jesus, and we sojourn in God. So it’s more than just the idea that God lives in us, as I talked about yesterday. It’s also that we live in God. That we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) in God. Or to steal from George Lucas’ description of the force, God “surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.” (Yes, I am a complete nerd.) This mutuality, this reciprocity, is significant. We don’t just see God in all things, we exist in God—existence is God! From that vantage point, how can we deliberately cause harm to anyone or anything, knowing that to do so causes harm to God?
Of course we can’t be perfect in this regard. But, boy, if we really kept this reality in frame in our lives, and acted accordingly, how much better would the world be?
What does it mean to me that I abide in God, as God abides in me?
