Daily Lectionary: Joshua 1:1-18; Acts 8:1-25
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty. (The Small Catechism: Tenth Commandment)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Evil thoughts come out of the heart” (Matthew 15:19). That’s our problem—a heart problem. It draws us after so many other things, even after other people! We don’t’ “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Instead, we desire, crave, want all sorts of other things.
We don’t cherish what God has given to us, and so we want other things, even and especially the stuff He’s gifted to those around us. We also do it with people. It seems a little odd that God would command us not to desire or want other people. If we’ve got friends, maybe we want better ones. Sometimes we like our friend’s parents or siblings more than our own. Maybe we want a different coach or teacher or boss or coworkers. We want different stuff, different people in our lives. So we crave more. When we do that, we reject the Lord’s gifts, and we also reject being a gift for others.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). We need the Lord to do this for us. We could pray this our entire life, and we should! The Old Adam heart, a heart of stone, works death our entire life. But the Lord and His Spirit really do give us a new and clean heart. He secured it with His cross. He desired to save you. He wanted you to have a new heart instead of the covetous one you’ve got. His own heart was pierced for it.
Now, He delivers it in Holy Baptism. There your heart is cleansed, and your new heart and life are strengthened through Jesus’ Body and Blood. So we keep asking the Lord to do what He’s already doing and will continue to do: “Let us approach with a true heart in boldness of faith, our hearts being sprinkled from an evil conscience and our body washed by clean water” (Hebrews 10:22).
Your coveting has been paid for by Jesus’ blood. You’re washed clean from it with His water and blood (John 19:34). Now, you’re baptized to be a gift to others and love them, serve them, forgive them. They are your gift from Him, too. The Lord’s given you all that you need! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
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