by Sal Huckel
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Read Matthew 3:1–12
Today’s passage invites us to the banks of the Jordan, where John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus’ ministry. His humble lifestyle and calls to repentance were already bringing the people to respond to their sins and be baptised by John in the river. Not surprisingly, also came the conflict with the Pharisees and Sadducees.
John’s reprimand and call to repentance is stark. We might feel that it was well deserved. After all, we do know much about the Pharisees and the Sadducees and their apparent hypocrisy. Paul himself was a Pharisee. While the Pharisees and Sadducees had doctrinal disagreements, they were united in their efforts against Jesus. Here, John’s warning is for them all.
What can we learn here today? We can study the baptism John was bringing, how Jesus’ baptism is the one we need and the meaning it has for us now to be baptised into Jesus’ baptism. We can also ponder what it means to ‘produce fruit in keeping with repentance’. How does that look? What do we need to repent of? We sometimes hear that Jesus simplified the Ten Commandments and that we don’t need to worry about all of those anymore; we are not ‘under the law’. However, Jesus said he did not come to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfil them (Matthew 5:17).
Unless we understand God’s law, we cannot properly repent. We may feel the law is less prescriptive and onerous ‘since Jesus’, but if we begin to unpack the Ten Commandments and look at Martin Luther’s explanations – the Small Catechism is very helpful on this – we will see that they go further than we might expect. It’s a misleading idea that ‘Jesus replaced them’. Helpfully, rather like the ways in which it is best to teach children, Luther offers positive instruction to further expand on the negatives.
Start today with commandment number one: ‘You shall have no other gods before me.’ We don’t have to look very far to see the things that compete for our attention, love and trust. How can you fear, love and trust God above all things today? To produce fruit in keeping with repentance, we need to follow through with this.
Father God, help me to more fully understand the law written in our hearts (Romans 2:15) and produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Sal is married to Pastor Matthew Huckel, and they live in Victoria with their six children, enjoying their ministry with Moorabbin–Dandenong Lutheran Church. Their two eldest children are excited to study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels during term time in Sydney. Theology, music, philosophy, literature and history are passions the family shares and explores together. Sal loves writing, speaking and walking to the beach at every opportunity.
Thorns and thistles
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
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But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned (Hebrews 6:8).
Read Hebrews 6:1–8
This week’s readings have had a strong agricultural theme. We have heard about planting seeds on good land, where crops can grow and flourish. Today’s reading celebrates land that receives rain and produces a useful crop – unlike land that produces thorns and thistles that ‘is worthless and is in danger of being cursed’.
In Monday’s reading of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus refers to the seed falling among thorns as referring to ‘someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful’ (Matthew 13:22).
How long is your worry list? The worries of life are potentially numerous – we can worry about work situations, home and health, family and friends, not to mention all of the things that pop into one’s head at 2.00am when sleep is eluding us.
And then there is the ‘deceitfulness of wealth’. The gap between the poor and the rich continues to grow. The housing shortage is part of our everyday landscape. In the midst of winter, the plight of homeless people is much more challenging. We have heard that the world has its first trillionaire, and that the numbers of millionaires and billionaires is increasing. Is it possible that pursuing wealth can deceive a person into ignoring spiritual wellbeing?
Maybe another factor is busyness. Yesterday, we thought about the Sabbath rest and the activities that seem to take over every day of the week.
There are other distractions in our lives as well. Our phones and other screens are constantly with us, and we now have AI to do our thinking for us. It is possible to be constantly bombarded with messages and information and to lose sight of what is happening in the real world or to the people around us. It can be challenging to separate truth from opinion. The news is filled with stories of violence and anger directed at individuals, families and groups of people.
All of the above deflect us from the one thing needful. May we ignore the thorns and thistles and be the good soil that allows the seeds of God’s word to be planted and to grow into a strong and vibrant faith.
Precious Saviour, help me to listen and to hear your words so that my faith may grow and flourish. Help me to live with and for Jesus and to follow where he is leading me. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.
Thorns and thistles
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned (Hebrews 6:8).
Read Hebrews 6:1–8
This week’s readings have had a strong agricultural theme. We have heard about planting seeds on good land, where crops can grow and flourish. Today’s reading celebrates land that receives rain and produces a useful crop – unlike land that produces thorns and thistles that ‘is worthless and is in danger of being cursed’.
In Monday’s reading of the Parable of the Sower, Jesus refers to the seed falling among thorns as referring to ‘someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful’ (Matthew 13:22).
How long is your worry list? The worries of life are potentially numerous – we can worry about work situations, home and health, family and friends, not to mention all of the things that pop into one’s head at 2.00am when sleep is eluding us.
And then there is the ‘deceitfulness of wealth’. The gap between the poor and the rich continues to grow. The housing shortage is part of our everyday landscape. In the midst of winter, the plight of homeless people is much more challenging. We have heard that the world has its first trillionaire, and that the numbers of millionaires and billionaires is increasing. Is it possible that pursuing wealth can deceive a person into ignoring spiritual wellbeing?
Maybe another factor is busyness. Yesterday, we thought about the Sabbath rest and the activities that seem to take over every day of the week.
There are other distractions in our lives as well. Our phones and other screens are constantly with us, and we now have AI to do our thinking for us. It is possible to be constantly bombarded with messages and information and to lose sight of what is happening in the real world or to the people around us. It can be challenging to separate truth from opinion. The news is filled with stories of violence and anger directed at individuals, families and groups of people.
All of the above deflect us from the one thing needful. May we ignore the thorns and thistles and be the good soil that allows the seeds of God’s word to be planted and to grow into a strong and vibrant faith.
Precious Saviour, help me to listen and to hear your words so that my faith may grow and flourish. Help me to live with and for Jesus and to follow where he is leading me. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.
Ouch!
by Colleen Fitzpatrick
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12a).
Read Hebrews 4:9–13
The concept of a Sabbath rest, in any shape or form, is much less of a reality today than in days gone by. When I was a child, I remember very clearly that no work was undertaken on a Sunday apart from the necessities of preparing food and tending to the needs of the animals on our farm – feeding animals, milking the cows and collecting the eggs.
Sundays were spent going to church in the morning, followed by visiting family or friends or perhaps going for a drive. There may have been time for an afternoon nap or some quiet time for reading or letter writing. Shops were closed on Saturday afternoons and all day Sunday. Team sports were confined to Saturday afternoons. Sundays were a day of rest, which provided a welcome respite from the hard yakka of weekdays.
In today’s reading, we are encouraged to enter God’s rest, where we rest from our own work and our own efforts. By entering God’s rest, we don’t have to do anything active at all to please God. We just need to believe.
A couple of years ago, I was making some pumpkin soup and reached the stage of using a stick blender to smoosh everything together. The blender was making a peculiar noise, and I lifted it out of the soup and put my finger into the area where the blades are – and absentmindedly started the motor. It may not have been a two-edged sword, but it hurt a lot.
God’s word cuts through everything. It is alive and active, and our thoughts and deeds are uncovered and laid bare. It all sounds very messy and embarrassing, not to mention painful, to me.
But that’s not the end. Through faith and God’s grace, we can enter into God’s rest, where we don’t have to do anything other than believe. We can rest from trying to earn our salvation. The task is complete; God’s Son has done the heavy lifting and has died to remove those sins.
Loving Saviour, help us to enter your Sabbath rest, secure in the knowledge that you have ensured our salvation through your death on the cross. Grant us thankful hearts and joyful spirits as we enjoy the fruit of your actions. Amen.
Colleen Fitzpatrick is retired and lives in Adelaide. She enjoys reading, writing and drinking coffee with her husband, John, and their friends. Colleen and John enjoy regular fitness classes, particularly when they include opportunities to throw frisbees.