Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
Verse 21 of our reading in Psalm 118:19-29 says, “I thank you that you have answered me and become my salvation.” This is a difficult saying for many, because we easily put our hopes in someone or something other than the Lord God as revealed in Scripture. We hope in things which cannot become our salvation, yet all along we want that salvation. Yes, I know some people say they really don’t feel a need to be saved from anything. They are doing just fine on their own. Yet when push comes to shove, they end up wishing for something bigger than themselves, something outside themselves. Likewise, the people who are in the more inwardly focused and emotive branches of Christianity seem to want something outside themselves. When trouble comes we try to trust our hearts and we find that we are not all that trustworthy.
A friend of mine from another country contacted me on the day I wrote this post, saying things were looking bad and frightening in his country. They now had two cases of the Corona virus. Public transportation and businesses are shut down, schools are closed, and they are not sure of the way forward. My observation was that I would certainly continue praying for them, and that when I last checked, we had about 23,000 cases of the Corona virus identified in my country, which is a much larger country than his. What do we do? As Christians we give thanks to God. We recognize that He is the one who gives us salvation. We try to stay clean and healthy, and we try to love and serve our neighbors. All the while, though, we put our ultimate faith in Christ for us, rather than in anything we or anyone else can do.
God answers his people. God is the salvation of his people. He knows precisely what is happening in this world. He has overcome the world and will gather his people, one day, to his side so they overcome the world as well. He is the one who is outside of us, bigger than us, and able to do all things well.
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