Listen

The Law brings about wrath. But when there isn’t any law, there isn’t any violation of the law. That’s why the inheritance comes through faith, so that it will be on the basis of God’s grace. In that way, the promise is secure for all of Abraham’s descendants, not just for those who are related by Law but also for those who are related by the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us. As it is written: I have appointed you to be the father of many nations. So Abraham is our father in the eyes of God in whom he had faith, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence.

Romans 4:15-17

Think

We are chosen first…

That is, God chooses us before we even know who God is. God chooses us before we have won first place or made the next great discovery or solved a world crisis. God chooses us even when we are still making stupid mistakes or hurting others. We are not special before God chooses us; we are made special BECAUSE God chooses us.

And then God promises…

God promises us that we are children of God, beloved and chosen. God promises to stay near. God promises never to abandon us, no matter how fiercely we push God away.

The God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist – this God keeps every promise.

Sarah McCaslin

Pray

In life and in death, I belong to you, God. In my sins and my stupid mistakes, I belong to you, God. You have chosen me, and for that I am made special, I am made whole, and I am made holy. Amen.

Go

God’s one-of-a-kind job description is that God actually uses our problems to lead us to the full solution. God is the perfect Recycler, and in the economy of grace, nothing is wasted, not even our worst sins and our most stupid mistakes.

Richard Rohr in A Lever and a Place to Stand (2012)