Living in the Spirit
August 5, 2016

Scripture Reading: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them. –Hebrews 11:13-16

Do we desire a better country? Viewing our world from Christ’s eyes might be a great place to start. I think of Jesus sitting on the top of the hill looking down on Jerusalem, seeing its potential, and weeping because its inhabitants could not see they had been shown the way to wholeness and justice. They chose to turn away from it. Why I do not know. Perhaps they had become caught up in the lesser things of life, what we now call instant gratification. Perhaps they could not get past the “what’s in it for me attitude.” They had lost the vision of their ancestor Abraham who strove toward a promise even knowing he might not live to see it come to fruition. The journey with God and faith in God’s promise was enough to sustain him.

It is time that we each search deep within our souls to understand how we perceive God’s promise for it still is ours today. We can run around like Chicken Little crying “The Sky is Falling!” because an acorn fell on our head or we can get on about the business of kingdom building doing our part to make our country and our world a place ruled by love.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.*

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for our foolish fears. Grant us the courage to work for wholeness and justice throughout the world. Amen.

*Second verse of Standing on the Promises by John Sweney and Kelso Carter see at http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/o/sotpogod.htm

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.