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DAILY DEVOTIONS:
Mar
5
‘Freely Given’
Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you.”
- Mark 10:28
As far as unlikely heroes go, Peter has always been a favorite. He says the wrong thing at the wrong time. He talks back. He says he loves Jesus but then denies him not once, but three times. Here, his exasperation is plain–Jesus has just sent the rich man away and told the apostles how difficult it is for anyone to get to heaven. Impossible, even. I can almost hear Peter sputtering, “What more can we possibly do, Lord?” How many times have I asked some version of this same question, expecting, despite myself, some earthly reward for love, for service, for good behavior? Jesus says that God sees all this effort. And, as we read in Sirach, our sacrifices “enrich the altar.” But at the same time, he reminds us of the relative strangeness of God’s economy. Our sacrifices are not why God loves us. We can’t earn what is freely given. - Jessica Mesman Griffith
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