Lenten Devotional (9) & CALLED dinner
The Bible portrays a God who treasures intrusion and deeply cares about our affairs.
Sometimes, we are tempted to view God as distant, uninterested in human affairs. Does God care about my life and labor? Does he look upon the mundane things of my existence?
The Bible portrays a God who treasures intrusion and deeply cares about our affairs.
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (Phil. 2:13)
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matthew 6:30)
God could never be a deist. He is too involved to let his human project go. He is too personal to refuse to engage his own creation. He made them fearfully and wonderfully (Ps. 139:14) to give up on his treasured possession. As Peter Leithart observes: “God doesn’t let us be the way we would like to be.”
We should pray that God would send his saints to intrude in our stubbornness and selfishness, someone who will be used as an instrument of God to change our comfort with complacency. We should pray that God uses our spouse or even our children to show us a better way–the way of faith. God’s instruments of intrusion are all around us. Will we listen? Do we have ears to hear?
Lent reminds us that God does not want us to get away with sin, but he intrudes through people and his means of grace to ensure that his saints live Coram Deo, before his face. At the cross, Jesus intruded into the world’s status quo and changed its reality forever. He gave himself so that death would no longer have the last word.
Blessed be the Lord’s intrusion!
In these remaining thirty-two days, may our hearts desire the intrusion of God conforming us to the image of his Son.
Prayer: O blessed Lord, we thank you for comforting us in our grief and causing us discomfort in our sins. Continue to rule our hearts and interfere in the ways of our flesh through Christ our Lord, amen!
Hymn of the Day: O, the Deep, Deep, Love of Jesus
Nuntium
Ever since the CALLED conference, I have bonded with this group of dear saints. I dedicated my book to them because they were the ones who kept the momentum going. They make places sweet and savory. Though this is only a portion of the larger group, it was a delight to join them for dinner and remember those two weeks in July 2023. We sang and laughed.
Those lectures at CALLED sealed my desire to publish the work. Further, the responses from the students helped me sharpen my argument. While I could elaborate much more on the book, the lectures allowed me to communicate succinctly and directly. I am ever grateful for their diligence and encouragement during those two weeks.
Lenten Blessings,
Uriesou Brito