ASLC Devotions -- Wednesday

Psalm 5:7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house,
I will bow down towards your holy temple in awe of you.

Do you ever roll over when the alarm clock goes off on a Sunday morning and feel the urge to just turn it off. I don't mean press snooze, but just turn it off, pull the covers back over your head and worship at St. Mattress by the Boxspring that morning? I'll confess that I feel that urge sometimes. Now, I generally get over that urge because it has to do with my mortgage payments and the fact that I enjoy getting a paycheck. But for you all, those same things don't apply. And so I often wonder as I look out at the congregation on Sunday morning: why are these people here? What brings them here? Why did they get out of bed this morning? Why aren't they golfing?

And then the psalmist answered: through the abundance of your steadfast love. It's God's love that allows us to be present each day. It's God's abundant love that drives us to worship and praise. It's God's love that compels us to be in community with other people who are children of God. This makes me think of my favorite thing Martin Luther ever wrote: no, it's not "On the Power and Primacy of the Pope." It's these words, part of his explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle's Creed, about the Holy Spirit: "I believe that by my own understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel..." It goes on, but the point is that even faith is a gift from God. Thanks be to God for the gift of faith.

In Christ,
Pastor Seth

To "talk back," visit http://aslcdevotions.blogspot.com. Remember to come and worship this Sunday at 8:30 and 11, with education hour at 9:45.