Home > Reading > NALC Devotions – May 11, 2017

Today’s readings: Jeremiah 31:1-14; Colossians 2:8-23; Luke 6:39-49

There is an old joke among Lutherans that goes like this. Question: How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Change?

Lutherans, other Christians, and all people in general tend to resist change. When unavoidable, change often produces fear, anxiety, and dread about what might happen next. And so, when change occurs, as it invariably does, we grab hold of whatever makes us feel safe and sheltered. We seek security in things we perceive to be unchanging, unalterable, and otherwise permanent.

The Church is no exception. Whenever change upsets the status quo among believers, our natural tendency is to cling to the comfort of tried-and-true customs and practices, to keep things the same way that they have always been, to reject any and all changes (or threats of changes) to our local traditions.

But as the author of Colossians writes, we should not “submit to regulations…according to human precepts and teachings.” Christ nailed this debt to the cross. We are forgiven and so are freed from our former legalism. When we hold fast to he who truly is unchangeable, we are then free to welcome change, not with apprehension, but with confidence and hope.

Prayer: Immutable God, in times of uncertainty, help us not to cling to the temporary things of this world, but instead to hold fast to the One who shall endure forever, Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen.

Today’s devotion was written by Paulette McHugh, NALC Pastor.

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