Daily Devotional • October 7
A Reading from Luke 6:39-49
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you? 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. 48 That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, immediately it fell, and great was the ruin of that house.”
Meditation
“The wise man built his house upon the rock and the rains came tumbling down. Oh, the rains came down and the floods came up, the rains came down and the floods came up…”
What a fun song, sung with gusto — and lots of hand motions — by generations of children in Sunday school and children’s church, based on the parable Jesus tells in today’s passage!
But as adults, we understand the significance of the story a lot better. We have seen too often the power of floods to sweep homes and buildings off of their foundations and carry them away.
In our own lives, many of us have experienced the power of storms, the power of floods — both literally and figuratively. We see how easy it is to lose everything, especially when by “everything” we mean our material possessions, or our ambitions or agendas, our hopes and dreams for the future.
We’re learning that we can’t build our lives on our best-laid plans (hello, pandemic!), or put our faith in a government or political party. Our peace won’t come from the latest headlines. And wisdom can’t always be found in crowd-sourcing. So much of what we thought was sure and steady has turned out to be shifting sand.
That’s why Jesus calls us to build our lives on him, the solid Rock, the One who never changes — who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever.” He is our peace, our wisdom, our stability and strength. Jesus is our sure foundation, a shelter in the time of storm.
Let us take refuge in him today.
Christin Ditchfield Lazo, Th.M., is a best-selling author, conference speaker, and syndicated radio host, passionate about calling believers to a deeper life of faith.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Juba – Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan
St. David’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Cocoa Beach, Florida