March 8, 2024

Look Up!

(Image by: Pixabay)

Lectionary Week

March 4–10, 2024

Scripture Overview

Sometimes we get ourselves into trouble by our words and actions. It’s okay to admit it; it happens to all of us. The Israelites experienced this when their constant grumbling provoked God’s wrath in Numbers 21. Yet even in this story, God provides the means of salvation. The psalmist echoes the refrain that when we put ourselves in bad positions, we may cry out to the Lord for deliverance. We read in Ephesians that all of us were living in disobedience to God, but God has done all the work of reconciliation by grace given through Christ Jesus. John ties all this together, gesturing to the story in Numbers 21 to teach us that Christ is the means of restoration and salvation for all who believe in him.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Numbers 21:4-9. When do you complain to God? Does your complaining ever interfere with your sense of God’s presence with you?
Read Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22. What practice helps you to thank God each day for God’s steadfast love?
Read Ephesians 2:1-10. How does your sense of God’s salvation and grace move you to do good works?
Read John 3:14-21. How do you act as a creature of light in the world? What are your “deeds that have been done in God”?

Respond by posting a prayer.

What does it mean to “be dead in your transgressions and sin?” We know that we humans tend to live into patterns. Patterns are comfortable ways to avoid making decisions. We just do the same thing over and over. Routines are important for us. It is how we structure our...

Subscribe to Continue Reading

God, may I be alive in Christ. May I sing God’s praises with my words, with my worship, and with my acts of mercy and service. Amen.

2 Comments