Forward Movement is an official, non-profit agency of the Episcopal Church whose mission is to create compelling content for Christian living. Since 1935 we have published the quarterly devotional Forward Day by Day, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and books that encourage and nourish people in their lives of prayer and faith.
SUNDAY, March 20
Genesis 12:1-4a. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
Having heard the Lord tell him to leave everything familiar and go to an unknown country, Abram picked up his things and went. Centuries later, Saint Paul (in today’s epistle) recalled this as a great act of faith. You get right with God, Paul said, by “the righteousness of faith,” not by following all the rules of prescribed and acceptable behavior. Paul seems to have thought of faith as trusting that God is in charge and following God into the unknown, risky, and challenging regions where God dwells.
Many think of faith as providing security, and it does, but not until we show our trust in God by taking the risks that faithful living entails. Playing it safe, refusing to make waves, always doing what is expected, betting on the sure thing—these are not the marks of a faithful Christian life. Sometimes faithful living leads us into neighborhoods we’d rather avoid (God is there, too) and to people who offend us (God is with them, too). The opposite of faith is fear of the new and unknown.
PRAY for the Diocese of Mombasa (Kenya)
Ps 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17
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A Meditation for Pentecost
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I believe she'll succceed more thann anyone will ever know.