Today Daily Devotional

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
— Luke 5:30

Followers of Jesus are expected to be nice, well-behaved, and untainted by the world, right? Most believers seem to think that.But Jesus never seemed to catch on to that idea. In fact, he tended to do the opposite. He sat comfortably among people whom others avoided and disapproved of. He didn’t join them in their sin, but he enjoyed their company. In an important sense, they were his kind of people.But we often act differently. We cluster with people who think, vote, and worship like we do. We keep a safe distance from people whose lives are different from ours—and seem to be rather complicated. On the other hand, if we try to blend in, we can tend to blur our convictions.Imagine Jesus glancing at your calendar this month. How much time would he see you spending with “his” kind of people? Would he see you keeping your distance from them? Alternatively, might he see you blurring your convictions in order to fit in?One day, when Jesus returns, every believer will be surrounded by people who are free of spiritual struggles. That will be a great day indeed. But that day isn’t here yet.Look at your calendar for this month. Whom might Jesus like to arrange for you to spend time with? Are they hiding? Will you go and find them?

Jesus, help me to see others as you do. Teach me to embrace everyone you love, stepping outside my comfort zone and showing the grace you have shown to me. Amen.

“The more they were called, the more they went away from me.”
— Hosea 11:2

This month we’re reflecting on hide and seek—the game about wanting and not wanting to be found.We’ve been playing that game with God for a long time. Think of Adam and Eve hiding in Eden, as God called, in effect, “Come out, come out, wherever you are!” (See Genesis 3.) Or think about God chasing down Jacob as he ran from the brother he had cheated. Jacob hid in the wilderness, only to hear God calling out, in effect, from a stairway to heaven, “I found you!” (See Genesis 28.)Or think of Israel in exile. They had rebelled against God for so long that the Lord had finally given them what they wanted: a life without him. Hosea shared God’s haunting words: “The more they were called, the more they went away from me.” God’s people had become experts at hiding.So it’s not surprising that when God the Son came, he joined in the game personally. Jesus came “to seek and to save the lost,” he said (Luke 19:10). He offered forgiveness and healing to people like us who couldn’t do forgiveness and healing very well on our own. And yet we tried our best to avoid what he was offering. Why do we keep doing that?Jesus called all kinds of people to follow him, and they did. Yet even his closest followers had their own agendas and often tried to keep going their own way (see Mark 10:35-45).When you hear Jesus calling you, what is your response?

Faithful God, thank you for never giving up on us. When we drift or resist, pursue us with patient love and teach us to trust in your grace. Amen.

“Will you give me a drink?”
— John 4:7

Have you ever played hide and seek? Each person in the game tries to hide, and they all hope they won’t be found. The first person who is found gets to be “it” on the next round, and then that person has to seek out whoever is hiding.It’s a curious game. Our granddaughter doesn’t really grasp how it works. She’ll micromanage things, telling us where to hide so that she can cheer triumphantly when she somehow “finds” us. She has fun. So do we. But she misses the point entirely.Hide and seek is about wanting and not wanting at the same time. You have fun playing together by trying to hide and not be together. And when you’re found and you’re together again, you protest: “Aw, you found me!”The seeker makes the game work. If that person quits, the whole game fizzles. Crouching behind the sofa or in a closet isn’t much fun if no one comes looking.I think God likes that game. At least he seems to, because he ends up playing it a lot. So often we, his people, want to be with him but also not with him. So he continues to seek us.This month we’ll keep this in mind as we focus on John 4 and some other passages to reflect on a Samaritan woman who meets Jesus. If, like me, you’ve ever found yourself both wanting and resisting God, I think you’ll find we all have a lot in common.

Lord, when I hide from you, please keep seeking me. Draw me into your presence and help me to welcome your persistent love. Amen.

“Look, I am coming soon! . . . I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
— Revelation 22:12-13

We have explored many names for Jesus this month. There are also many names we haven’t reflected on: Lord, Rock, Redeemer, Cornerstone, Morning Star, and more.The name Alpha and Omega can help us think of the great span of Jesus’ qualities, works, and abilities (many of which are described in his names)— and much more. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last. And, as our text for today suggests, this name helps us to think of Jesus as “the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” In other words, Jesus is the A and the Z, the starting block and the finish line, the source of creation and the goal to which all things head. He gives meaning to each point and experience along the way, and we’ll never exhaust all there is to say about Jesus.At the close of these devotions, we also encounter, as we have found at other times, an invitation and a warning.First, the warning. Because Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, it is impossible to be neutral. He is the ultimate dividing line. We can either come to him and enter his life of peace, reward, and rest, or we can say “no thanks” and be separated from him.But with the gift of his invitation, we can come to Jesus, be forgiven and reconciled with God, and enter a new, full life with him forever. Real life begins and ends with, and hinges on, Jesus Christ!

Lord Jesus, you invite us to “Come! . . . and . . . take the free gift of the water of life.” Draw us to yourself, we pray. Amen.

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
— Hebrews 12:1-2

Our reading today invites us to reflect on the life of faith as a race marked out for us.And who has gone before us to mark it out? Jesus, the pioneer (or trailblazer) of faith.He did it all, providing this great gift for us. He paved the way when we were so lost in our sin that we were like dead people walking in darkness (Isaiah 9:2; Ephesians 2:1-5). He made us alive to faith. He justified us, he sanctified us, and he sustains us through every trial. Jesus lights the way for us, and he will bring us safely through to where he is. As the apostle Paul describes it in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”Some Bible translations describe Jesus’ role here as the “author and finisher” of faith, and that reminds me of some treasured gifts that grace our family’s home. My mother-inlaw and late sister-in-law gifted us with beautiful, handmade quilts. They “authored” these treasures, designing them on graph paper, choosing colors, cutting pieces of fabric, and quilting them together. They also “finished” these artworks beautifully, down to the last binding stitch. I benefit from these gifts of grace, resting under someone else’s finished work.In our life of faith, we depend on Jesus’ accomplished work. From start to finish, we can fix our eyes on him, following his lead and relying on his guidance and finished work every step of the way.

Pioneer and Perfecter of faith, where would we be without you? Lead and guide us, Lord, and may we rest in you. Amen.