Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world.””
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, July 14, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I feel alive when I am connected to God. So I suppose it wouldn’t be far to go to imagine feelings of separation and disconnection as a kind of deadness. A deadness of spirit. And when do those feelings kick up? Or, rather, when does the aliveness fade, leaving behind it a kind of numb slogging through the everyday? Probably when I am “following the course of this world.”
“This world” is not the actual world, the beautiful creation we all inhabit, but the “world” of human society, one which so universally seems to be structured to benefit a small number of people at the expense of billions. When I follow the course of the world, I am consciously or unconsciously participating in systems that oppress people, industries that destroy lives and the environment, and practices that are not life-giving.
Paul calls us to follow a different course—the course of Jesus, which is justice for the oppressed, loving stewardship of creation, practices that lead to flourishing for all people, not just a select few. This is the course of resurrection, now and eternally.
What things make me feel dead? How do I feel when I am connected to God?
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
