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Week 5: NO LASTING CITY
So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through His own blood. Therefore let us go to Him outside the camp and bear the reproach He endured. For here we have
no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:12-14).
"Here we have no lasting city:' Oh, how true that is! For this is a time of grief and loss for many. The things we have trusted in the things we have loved and served and placed our hopes in, sometimes for all our lives seem to be falling apart. We are afraid. We grieve.
For some people, it is worry over our country, the land, the people, the institutions we love. We see evil things happening that we never could have imagined. Neighbor rises up against neighbor, and we find ourselves in conflict with the people we love. The foundations of the earth seem to be shaken. And as we pray, we are reminded that no nation endures forever.
Sometimes our worries are closer to home - at church or work. There may be church conflict - or the years-long loss of membership. No congregation endures forever. At work, we may face job loss or transfer or even the expected but still difficult transition to retirement. No job lasts forever.
Hardest of all are the changes in our families. We lose people we love to death, divorce, or estrangement. Others move away. Children grow up and leave the nest - a good thing, but still hard. Even our families don't last forever.
In the midst of all this, what can we hold on to? God tells us:" Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). Or as He says in another place, "Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save" (Isaiah 46:4).
Jesus is the One we can cling to. He will not change. He is still the same Savior who laid down His life for us on the cross - the same Lord who took up His life again when He rose from the dead on the third day afterward. None of our losses catches Him by surprise. He will carry us through them all.
PRAY
Lord of the everlasting city of God, help me to trust You with all my heart and look to You for everything I need. Amen.
REFLECT
What human things feel like they've "always been there" to you?
What human things feel like they are falling apart to you right now?
How do you find comfort and help in Jesus when you feel that way?
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Taken from 30 Days of Household Prayers by Lutheran Hour Ministries
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