Deuteronomy 5:26–27; Ezekiel 33:11; Luke 20:34–40; John 5:39–40; John 8:56–58
A living God? To many people today, God is just a fairy tale who belongs amongst the pages of Grimm’s fairy tales and folklore. For them, God is no different than the ancient Roman and Greek gods, and of no greater value (perhaps even less) than the Hindu gods.
Yesterday’s devotional was about the witness we are called to make. While the devotional didn’t talk about our common failures in being good and faithful witnesses, most of us realize that we have messed up more than a few times.
Being faithful often means being humble when we fail, requiring us to be honest with ourselves and others. That can be difficult. Being open (and thus vulnerable) about our flaws sometimes requires greater strength than we are capable of on our own.
Our witness requires greater strength than it used to. Our witness requires greater vulnerability than it used to. Our witness requires greater transparency than it used to.
The concept (our reality) of a living God allows us the freedom to breathe in the pressure of the “greaters”. Our God is greater still than the greatest Created thing or person.
When we understand that God is a God of the living it helps to put a few things into perspective. It wasn’t a small thing that Jesus observed that God named Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph in the present tense. When we focus on the dead and what comes after, or even what came before, we don’t live in the fullness of the life that has been given to us.
This is, even more, the case when we talk about the Scriptures. People dig into the Scriptures to know more about God. People dig into the Scriptures to deny God. Even those of Jesus’ day who knew the Scriptures well were unable to see the living God before them. While the Scriptures are living and active, they are living and active only because of the living God.
A living God means that God is not sitting on the sidelines. God works in and among and through Creation.
※Questions※
1) How does God being living affect your daily walk with God?
2) Especially when it comes to Jesus, but not only, why is “living” so important?
3) Have you ever known someone who was “alive”, but who wasn’t living? Do you think they knew Jesus?
※Prayer※
God of the living and breathing Creation, help to know to the depths of our souls that you are living and breathing in us. Amen.