Today’s Reading: Small Catechism: Apostles’ Creed, First Article part 1

Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 23:23-44; Luke 12:35-53

“I believe that God has made me and all creatures. . . “(Small Catechism: Apostles’ Creed, First Article)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Rome was not built in a day!” If you try to claim that Rome was built in a day you would be ridiculed for being ignorant and foolish. Rome could not possibly have been built in a day. The secular world laughs at us when we say that the world was created in six days. “How could that possibly be?” they say. Six days to put all of this together from the simplest organism to the complexities of human life? Impossible! It is inconceivable that the entire creation could come about in 144 hours.

The book of Genesis opens up with the simple phrase, “In the beginning God created. . . .” Those simple words leave no doubt that the start of everything, including time, comes from God. He is the source of all that exists. Understanding God as the source of everything is very humbling for mankind. We like to think of ourselves as the creator, not the creation. We work hard to demonstrate how much we have discovered in all of our sciences. We define life’s origins in billions of years. We capture light and attempt to determine the origins of the universe. We try to develop life on our own apart from the natural process that God gave us in creation. We take from God’s creation and claim it as our own. We use His subatomic particles, His atoms, His molecules, His cells and say, “Look at what WE have created!” In the end it is all God’s, and His creation. We have done nothing new.

In spite of our desire to lay claim to creation, God still takes care of us. He provides all that we need to sustain this life from day to day. We pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He places homes over our heads, parents to raise us, food to feed us, churches for worship, and clothes to cover us. He never stops taking care of us. He not only created you, He also sustains you in all your needs. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The world seeks after wealth And all that mammon offers Yet never is content Though gold should fill its coffers. I have a higher good, Content with it I’ll be: My Jesus is my wealth. What is the world to me! (“What Is the World to Me” LSB 730, st.3)

-Rev. Timothy Davis is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Athens, GA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Over eight sessions, The Messiah: Revealing Jesus in the Old Testament will lead you through the entirety of the Old Testament with daily readings, questions, and discussion prompts. After a brief introduction that reviews Christ’s earthly ministry, you will dive into the heart of the Holy Books that have spiritually nourished God’s people from creation to today! Now available from Concordia Publishing House.