Devotion for Wednesday After the Third Sunday After the Epiphany, Year B (ELCA Daily Lectionary)

Above:  Jesus and His Apostles

Image in the Public Domain

The Call of God, Part IV

JANUARY 24, 2024

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The Collect:

Almighty God, by grace alone you call us and accept us in your service.

Strengthen us by your Spirit, and make us worthy of your call,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 23

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The Assigned Readings:

Proverbs 8:1-21

Psalm 46

Mark 3:13-19a

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The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

–Psalm 46:7, Common Worship (2000)

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One understanding of divine wisdom in the Bible is that it became part and parcel of Jesus, the incarnated Logos of God, per John 1.  That thought fills my mind as I read from Proverbs 8.  The cry to all humankind filled the preaching of Christ’s Apostles.  It echoes down the corridors of time.

I wonder how many of those men would have followed Jesus had they known what awaited them.  One became disappointed in Jesus, whom he betrayed before committing suicide.  Ten became martyrs.  The twelfth lived to a ripe old age and died in exile.  Will we also follow Jesus?  Will we become disappointed in him then betray him somehow also?  Might we face danger and perhaps die for the faith we profess?  If we knew what awaited us from the beginning of our walk with Christ, would we have accepted the invitation?

Sometimes wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible promises prosperity as a reward for faithfulness to God.  Such passages lead to Prosperity Theology, a heresy.  Often, actually, fidelity to God leads to hardship.  As Proverbs 8, verse 19 states that the fruits of wisdom are superior to fine gold and verse 21 says that any financial reward for faithfulness will be honest wealth.  There is an offset to Prosperity Theology in that pericope.

May we follow God in Christ wherever the path leads.  If we become disappointed, may we realize that the fault resides within us, not God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 23, 2014 COMMON ERA

PROPER 29–CHRIST THE KING SUNDAY–THE LAST SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF JOHN KENNETH PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN BISHOP; HIS WIFE, HARRIET ELIZABETH “BESSIE” WHITTINGTON PFOHL, U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN; AND THEIR SON, JAMES CHRISTIAN PFOHL, SR., U.S. MORAVIAN MUSICIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT CLEMENT I OF ROME, BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT COLUMBAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF MIGUEL AUGUSTIN PRO, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR

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https://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/11/23/the-call-of-god-part-iv/

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