Lenten Devotions
Thursday, February 21
No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for imposters. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.
Ephesians 4
Eugene Peterson’s The Message
I believe in accepting the abundant and steadfast love of God with both hands. I believe in grace, in the gift of God’s love, with all my heart. But I don’t want to be an infant forever. I want to grow in faith and love, to draw nearer to God, and to be of use in God’s hope for the world. Yes, I will simply rest in God some times. I will cease striving and know that God is God. But, some times striving is called for.
The more I study Jesus and the way he lived, the more I feel the need to live differently myself, to stretch into new habits of trust, to open into braver, more giving living. If I am to be “robust in love” and to have all the joy, all the life, that God wants for me, I need to grow. Lent is a good time to look for our growing edge. What is God calling us on to? What would God have us mend within ourselves so that, in our wholeness, we might soar on eagle’s wings?
A Practice:
Take this Faith Quiz from Martha Grace Reese’s Unbinding the Gospel. Use it to think about how you might grow in faith and in love. How is God calling you to fall more deeply in love with God or with humankind? Who can help you grow? Seek the answers to these questions in prayer.
Faith Quiz
Do you say yes to any of the following statements?
- I’m living a faith that doesn’t make me buckle my seatbelt when I reach for my Bible in the mornings.
- I’m living without Christ guiding me through the meetings, the conversations, and choices of my day.
- I don’t feel a deep sense of repentance and forgiveness.
- I am seldom aware of leadings from the Spirit.
If you answer yes to any of these questions, please, please ask God to help you find a book, a group, a church, a friend who will help you take the next step in a richer faith life. There’s more. You haven’t yet seen some of the glorious horizons of faith. (Reese 15)
Remember, we are all growing. There are more “glorious horizons of faith” for all of us to behold. There is no shame in growing in Christ. Let it be your joy.
For more information or to continue the conversation, write to Katie at katherinekinnison@covenantpcusa.org.
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