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I’m writing this devotion in
between times of feeding our newborn twin granddaughters who were
born on March 5. There are very few things in this world as peaceful
as a fed, satisfied newborn grandchild asleep in my arms. So
beautiful. So precious. So lovable. Newborns, of course, are
dependent on others to feed them, to cuddle them, to keep them warm,
to keep them clean, to clothe them, to care for them, to love them.
I’m experiencing great joy in each of these things...well, maybe not
quite as great a joy in keeping them clean...but still some joy in
that too, I suppose.
Helping to care for our newborn granddaughters gives me a gentle
reminder on just how dependent we are on God. When we say “Give us
this day our daily bread”, we pray for more than just bread. We pray
for God’s creation to continue nourishing our bodies with food, for
God to enlighten our minds with God’s Word, for God to cleanse us,
to comfort us, to protect us, to strengthen us, and to feed us with
Christ’s true presence in, with, and under the bread and wine we
share together. We pray for all of these things when we say “Give us
this day our daily bread”.
We are dependent on our loving God who gives us our daily bread. We
are fully dependent, like a newborn child in God’s arms. We can
rejoice, knowing that God sees each of us as beautiful, as precious,
as lovable...enough to show such a great outpouring of love in full
display on the cross. What wondrous love! What amazing love! What
enormous, incredible, unimaginable, deep love for us!
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During Holy Week, we praise God for
such great love. On Easter Sunday, we sing our songs of praise,
joyously proclaiming Christ the Lord is risen today! We listen to
and reflect on God’s Word, including a Children’s message with
balloon animals! And most certainly, we celebrate our eternal hope
through Christ’s resurrection and victory over death. While we
especially celebrate that hope on Easter Sunday, we continue to
celebrate that same joyous hope every Sunday...and every day. Thanks
be to God!
[Dave Griffith,
Synod Authorized Minister,
Immanuel Lutheran, Lincoln] |
