Monday, March 13, 2017

Monday, March 13, 2017

Reading: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

"[Abraham] is the father of all of us, as it is written, 'I have made you the father of many nations'…" Romans 4:16b-17a

In his "Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans", Martin Luther wrote: "Faith…is a divine work in us which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God…Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that the believer would stake his life on it a thousand times. The knowledge of and confidence in God's grace make us glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and with all creatures." We are descendants of Abraham in faith, writes Paul, and thus we are confident and bold to go where love of God leads us. We are born anew in the Spirit, as Christ explains to Nicodemus in the darkness, and thus we are free to live in sure confidence of God's love, "glad and bold and happy in dealing with God and all creatures."

Loving God, make us glad and bold and happy in the sure confidence of your grace. Amen

• Make the sign of the cross on your forehead and remind yourself of your new life in Christ with the words, "I am baptized into Christ."