When All is Said and Done

Living for What Matters

Reflection:

• Have you ever thought about what your legacy will be? What do you want said about you after you’re gone from this earth? Do your current priorities align with those values?
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• What are you spending your time on that will last for eternity? What shifts might need to happen in your weekly priorities to place your relationship with God and those around you with the highest value?

Psalm 130:3-6 – If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

The psalmist asks a serious and frightening question: “If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” We may be worried about that, too. If God kept track of our sins, how would we ever be able to stand before Him? There are many lists of sins in Scripture. While these lists do not name anyone personally, the sins are very familiar. These are sins we have committed. Jesus describes the evil that flows out of human hearts, including evil thoughts, murder, adultery, theft, and false witness (see Matthew 15:19). The apostle Paul provides a long list of unrighteous behaviors that are common among all people. These sins include gossip, slander, boasting, envy, murder, and strife (see Romans 1:29-32). The apostle makes it clear that everyone is guilty of such things. Paul also lists the “works of the flesh.” We recognize these sins within ourselves, things such as sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery, jealousy, enmity, and drunkenness (see Galatians 5:19-21).

Yet the psalmist is not without hope as he considers the possibility of a list of sins. He has one word that stands firmly against every list of iniquities. That single word is forgiveness, and in that one word he finds hope in the Lord: “But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared.” The Lord is to be feared, that is, regarded and worshiped with reverent awe and respect, not because He keeps a long record of our sins, but because … He forgives.

The psalmist waits in prayer and in hope, and so do we. With repentant honesty we must admit that many of the sins on those lists are found in our lives. The lists strike close to home as they describe our disobedience of God’s commands. But we have seen the hope and promise of forgiveness fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The terrible and very personal list of our sins, “the record of debt that stood against us,” has been forgiven. (See Colossians 2:14.) That record of sin was nailed to the cross of Jesus as He took the sins of the world onto Himself. He suffered the penalty of death that we deserved. The list of sins that once stood against us has been canceled and crossed out. Jesus paid the price and, through faith in His Name, we are forgiven and free. That is the promise of God’s Word, and we join the psalmist to say with relief and joy, “In His Word I hope!” 

WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, You died for me so that my sins are forgiven. I have hope in Your Word. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler.

This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

Numbers 20:12-13 – And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in Me, to uphold Me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them He showed Himself holy.

I’ve got a leather bag that my family gave me as a gift. The leather isn’t imitation, it’s full grain, held together with high-quality stitching and steel rivets. It’s made this way so it’ll get better with wear. The company that makes it promises a 100-year warranty. They say, “Your kids will fight over it when you’re dead.” I’ve had mine for seven years now, so, it’s got at least 93 more to go.

It’s just starting to wear in.

Moses, however, is worn out. He’s been at it around 120 years now. And he is worse for the wear. He’s coming apart at the seams. Maybe the consequence seems harsh. God has him run a 40-year marathon and now He won’t let him finish, all for a little mistake? But Moses is held to a higher standard. He’s supposed to represent God to the people. There must be higher standards for those who represent God, because God is holy.

God’s holiness is His power to make high-quality work, craftmanship that lasts. God has exacting standards, because any other way, it won’t wear in. It’ll wear out. The standard is higher for Moses and Aaron and for anyone called to represent God as the image of God, which is you, by the way, and me. So, Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. Seems like a small thing, like eating from the one fruit tree God told you not to eat from. It seems like a small thing, not to trust God’s Word. But if you don’t trust God, you’ll fear, love, and trust something else. And that becomes your god. And from those little imitation gods, every evil comes. The universe doesn’t work right, anymore. And we wear ourselves out.

God has high standards because He wants His work to last, to get better for wear. But God’s standard isn’t a quality-control checklist. God’s standard is love—self-giving, sacrificial love.

The standard isn’t a list, it’s the heart of God—the God who doesn’t just hold His people to a high standard, but holds them, even when they don’t measure up. Moses fails here, but eventually he made it into the Promised Land, remember? When he showed up with Elijah on the mountain, hanging alongside the Holy One whose face shined with the radiance of God—that was the Promised Land (see Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9). Moses got to come along for the ride after all, because Jesus held God’s standard for us. He gave Himself on the cross to raise us up into the heart of God.

That leather bag my family gave me—I’ve carried it all over the country. People often comment on it, there, hanging on my shoulder. “I love your bag,” they say. The quality catches their eye. It’s not me wearing the bag, actually. The bag is wearing me. I’m just along for the ride.

WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for wearing me in to the standard of Your Father’s love. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.