Daily Devotional • October 15
A Reading from Matthew 10:24-33
24 “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. 27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
Meditation
One of my favorite songs is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Crawling Back to You.” It’s a catchy tune, with a bit of nostalgic flare, set in Southern California, one of my favorite places in the world. What I love most about the song is this line: “Most things I worry about never happen anyway.” It cuts me every time because it’s so true. We often worry about, and fear, the wrong things, and we often downplay what matters most.
In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus addresses this human tendency to fear the wrong things and to downplay what matters most. It’s a moving passage, where Jesus reminds us that not a sparrow will fall from the sky without his permission, and that he knows the number of all the hairs on our heads—a way of saying he knows everything about us, so there’s no point in hiding from him, and there’s no point in worrying, because whatever happens to us, he is ultimately in control.
I find it intriguing that this passage about fear—and how we shouldn’t worry or fret because God is in control—also includes a section where Jesus admonishes us not to deny our faith in him. This is probably because often, we’re afraid to stand up for our belief in Jesus—whether because we don’t want to seem “uncool” (guilty!) or for more dire reasons, persecution, say.
Jesus is both telling us to stand up for what we believe and he’s telling us that when we do, he will be with us. It’s a hard reminder that he delivers with tenderness, which is Jesus’s way. So today, take a cue from Tom Petty, and don’t worry about the things that probably won’t happen, turn to Jesus, and stand courageously for what you believe.
Elizabeth Hamilton’s writing has appeared in the Dallas Museum of Art, Southern Humanities Review, and Texas Monthly. She has an MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Find her work at elizabethannehamilton.com
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Pelotas – Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil
