Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“My point is this: the law, which came four hundred thirty years later, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, May 13, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
God’s promise to Abraham was not based on him adhering to a code of more than 600 laws. It was given before those laws existed. Paul says the promise was fulfilled in Jesus and therefore we are all beneficiaries. So we don’t have to follow a whole bunch of rules to be “worthy” of God’s love, as if that were even possible.
I wonder how many of us, consciously or unconsciously, still feel as though we need to be good or even perfect in order to qualify for God’s reign. Even those of us from religious traditions that are crystal clear that we can’t earn it—that it is gift freely given by God for all of creation. Maybe it’s helpful to keep returning to this idea, that God’s promise predates any sort of code of conduct. God chose Abraham just because. And God chooses us for the same reason.
Do I have unreasonable standards for myself when it comes to my faith?
![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)
