Devotionals

“The result of American polling is uniform: most Americans believe both that abortion for other than exceptional reasons is the unjust taking of a human life and that women would have the right to procure abortion for any reason that compels them. That is, the American people have in this matter abdicated moral coherence.”

Lenten Devotional Series Day 19. Today’s meditation is on Luke 18:15-43. Jesus loves our children. Even the tiniest ones. He loves them in the womb, he loves them in their mother’s arms. He loves them even when they start running around, getting under our feet, and fighting with their siblings. He loves them, and he…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 18. Today’s meditation is on the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” A year and a half ago, I lost my mother to breast cancer. Six months after that, my dad was…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 17. Today’s meditation is on the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” The commandment to honor father and mother makes plenty of sense for children. But what use is it for…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 16. Today’s meditation is on Exodus 18:13-27. Doesn’t the fourth commandment seems antiquated in the modern world? We’re too busy for Sabbath-keeping; there aren’t enough hours in the day. But God made time—and us. Is his purpose in this commandment merely to confirm and demonstrate our own sinfulness? Or does he…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 15. Today’s meditation is on Matthew 11:25-30. Lent is a season of penitence, a time for intentionality in dying to self. On the other hand, the fourth commandment (see yesterday’s devotional) is an injunction to rest. How do Lenten contrition and rest go together?

Lenten Devotional Series Day 14. Today’s meditation is on the fourth commandment, Exodus 20:8-11. Traditionally, each of the Ten Commandments has been understood to include both a prohibition and a duty. As we observed yesterday, the fourth commandment prohibits a life of unceasing labor, without rest and reflection. Today we focus on the duty—or perhaps…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 13. Today’s meditation is on the fourth commandment, Exodus 20:8-11. Recently our family had epiphany of sorts. We were falling prey—regularly—to an all too-common problem: saying yes to too many good things. Our margins had disappeared, such that we were hardly getting enough sleep at night, let alone time for spiritual…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 12. Today’s meditation is on John 16:16-28. Among evangelical Christians, it is customary to end our prayers “in Jesus’ name.” Let’s think about how and why we do this in light of the third commandment’s prohibition against misusing God’s name. The most important consideration is this: do we believe effective prayer…

Lenten Devotional Series Day 11. Today’s meditation is on the third commandment, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” Exodus 20:7. Traditionally this commandment has been understood in its narrowest sense to prohibit empty promises in God’s name. Swearing “to God,” or “on your mother’s grave,” or even “cross my…