Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
"Son of God, Eternal Savior"
May 24, 2020
♫ "Son of God, eternal Savior, Source of life and truth and grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us Hallows all our human race, You our Head, who, throned in glory, For Your own will ever plead; Fill us with Your love and pity, Heal our wrongs, and help our need.
"Come, O Christ, and reign among us, King of love and Prince of Peace; Hush the storm of strife and passion, Bid its cruel discords cease. By Your patient years of toiling, By Your silent hours of pain, Quench our fevered thirst of pleasure, Stem our selfish greed of gain." ♫
"Hush the storms of strife and passion, bid its cruel discords cease." There is no lack of strife and discord in our world. People have their own solutions to resolve the storms that invade homes and lives. Self-help books offer useful ideas and encouragement. Some people may experiment with more aggressive answers and try to dominate the opposition, perhaps on social media, or worse, in physical conflict. Yet no single solution can entirely, successfully, "quench our fevered thirst of pleasure" and "stem our selfish greed of gain," attitudes and behaviors that are evidence of our sinful nature. There is only one Person who can still the storms, and we pray that Christ would come and reign among us with the peace that He alone can bring.
Jesus Christ was born among us, the Word made flesh, a member of our human race. Throughout His "patient years of toiling," He healed the sick and proclaimed the kingdom of God, a kingdom of peace that only the Prince of Peace can bring. He hushed storms of wind and water and ministered to those around Him with love and pity. And when those few patient years of toiling were done, He took onto Himself our thirst for pleasure, our selfish greed, and our cruel discord and carried those sins in His own body to the cross. There through "silent hours of pain," He suffered the penalty of death that was God's just judgment against sin. Now the crucified and risen Lord, enthroned in glory, ceaselessly pleads for us as our "advocate with the Father" (1 John 2:1b).
Through the suffering, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son, God reconciled this striving, discordant world to Himself. Now we are ambassadors of reconciliation, carrying His Good News to the world. We know the answer to the world's selfish striving, and His Name is Jesus. Only through faith in Jesus Christ will our wrongs be healed; only in Him will our world have peace and find help in every need.
"Come, O Christ, and reign among us!" On the Last Day, our Lord will come again, and we will live in His presence for all eternity. Until that day, we pray that more and more people will—through faith in Jesus—cease their striving and find peace in the Prince of Peace.
THE PRAYER: Son of God, eternal Savior, we pray that You will reign over us in love and lead us to cease our striving, selfish ways. Amen
Reflection Questions:
1. How do you handle conflict?This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Carol Geisler. It is based on the hymn, "Son of God, Eternal Savior." Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
2. When your world heats up, what parts of the Bible bring you peace and comfort?
3. As a Christian, do you consider yourself an "ambassador," one carrying a message to others?
How do you handle conflict?
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