Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles.”
NL Daily Devotion for Monday, July 17, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
One letter is not enough. We need to be constantly reminded who we are and whose we are. As human beings our attention span and memory are as ephemeral as our time on this planet, and it can be so easy to fall back into our old ways of being in the world, of coping through our own force of will or, failing that, through escapism in one form or another. We can experience God in our lives in intense, vital, visceral ways one moment, and the next find ourselves wondering if there even is a God.
This is why we can never read the Bible as a static, past-tense piece of literature. Like this letter of 2 Peter, all of scripture is alive. It’s dynamic. God calls us into it again and again, invites us to struggle with it not alone, but in community, so that God might speak to us through one another, and remind us to “remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your apostles.”
And what a wonderful invitation! It’s not just about holding the line against sin and backsliding. It’s about blowing the line right out of the water and fully experiencing communion with God in our exploration of God’s word. How awesome is that?
What things in scripture remind me of God’s real and vital presence working in my life?
