Category: Devotion

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:29

“Take my yoke upon you.” This invitation doesn’t sound very appealing by itself. A yoke should mean a burden, or at the very least implies that work is to be done. But Christ tells us that His yoke is where we can find rest for our souls. It is in Christ that we find “Peace mid pain and losses.”

Our terrible burden of sin was removed from our shoulders as Christ bore it for us upon the cross. Christ’s yoke is light because He is bearing the weight for us. Christ continues to bear our burdens, guiding us with His yoke to learn of His gentleness and humbleness. Salvation was won for us when Christ died on the cross. The work has been done so that the yoke we take upon us is no longer a burden, but rest in Christ.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, we could not bear the burden of our sin alone, but You sent Your Son, Jesus, to bear it in our stead. Let us rest in the comfort that is found in His gentle yoke, through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Matthew Christian, Sem I)

“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 86:15

No clearer demonstration of God’s abundant steadfast love and faithfulness will be found than that which is seen on the cross. Abraham demonstrated his faith and love toward God by his willingness to slay his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah, a sacrifice that goes uncompleted. God, however, shows His love and compassion toward all of mankind by slaying His Son on the cross on Mount Calvary, the only truly complete sacrifice ever offered.

As we progress through Lent and even the stanzas of this hymn, we are led to ponder the excruciating suffering and death that our Lord underwent in His passion. We are also prompted in our meditations on Christ’s suffering to see that our sin is the cause of Christ’s suffering and death, and to view our Lord’s passion with repentant grieving.

However, when we reflect upon our sinfulness, our conscience becomes stricken with guilt. It ought to. What other response is appropriate when realizing that we have broken God’s law and the price Christ had to pay for it?

When we are struck with such grief, we are to turn to that very cross of Christ to find peace of conscience in His suffering and death. For that indeed is where Christ won forgiveness for us. That is where God demonstrated His steadfast love and faithfulness toward us, showing His compassion. For any father willing to give up his only son to save those who rebelled against him, must have compassion.

Let us pray: Lord God, in the suffering and death of Jesus, You show us Your great compassion. Let us find peace for our consciences in the cross of Christ when troubled with sin, that the threats and terrors of the evil one may have no power over us. Through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Emmett Bartens, Sem I)

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Romans 13:14

Picture this: Jesus on the cross because of us. We realize, especially in this time of Lent, that we are sinners. We may not want to sin and even pray against it, but we fail every day. We give into living for the flesh and the desires of this world. We look at Christ’s journey to the cross, His passion, and we grieve with repentance. Why? Because it is our sin that Jesus bears and is the reason He must suffer and die. That’s right, it’s our fault. Lent is a time to reflect on this image of our guilt and why Jesus had to die.

That is not the only picture we are to see though! We also see the tremendous love and mercy of God who sent His Son to die for us. He bore what we could not and defeated death, sin, and this world for us! Even in this time of remembering our guilt and repentance, we look towards this hope in His death and resurrection where He proclaims the victory for us. We confess our sins and abundantly receive forgiveness though we do not deserve it. In our baptisms, Jesus Christ is put on us and we are given the promise of eternal life with Him. God no longer sees us in the image of our sin, but in Christ’s image who has covered us with His precious and holy blood.

Let us pray: Merciful Father, You sent Your only Son to bear our sins on the cross, even though we were undeserving. We thank You for Your abundant gift of forgiveness and the promises given in our baptisms; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Anna Miels, Deaconess Student)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:24

What’s heavier? A pound of steel or a pound of feathers? They both weigh a pound, right? Wrong. If you carry a pound of steel, you’re only lifting a pound; but if you lift a pound of feathers, you have to carry the weight of what you did to all those poor birds.

We don’t always think about the weight of our deeds, but God does. The dying Jesus didn’t just carry the weight of the slim man we often gaze upon when we look at our crucifixes; He also carried the weight of my sins—the cause of His crucifixion. And yours too. See, Christ didn’t die alone up there on that cross, we all died there along with Him. That’s what our hymn has us ponder today.

In this season of Lent, we reflect not only on Christ’s journey to the cross, but also the weight of our sins, which He bore in His nail-pierced, thorn-pricked body. As we enter Passiontide, some churches will even cover their crucifixes with a veil and wait until Good Friday to uncover them. This is to remind us that the true weight of the cross is too horrible for us to fully ponder. Martin Luther even remarked that it is only by God’s mercy that we don’t realize the full weight of our original sin. Otherwise, if we could feel it, we would be shocked and disgusted beyond all belief! Therefore, may we this Lent continually be shown our sins and reflect on them in order to repent and lead Christian lives.

Let us pray: O God, You are not a God that takes pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with You. Grant, therefore, that we might see as much of our sin as is needed, that the Old Adam in us might, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts. As we walk through this vale of tears, be our help in this and every hour, granting us poor sinners a blessed end when we eventually die as did our Savior; for You live and reign with the Son and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

(Dane Breitung, Sem I)

“For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.’ But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”
Mark 9:31-32

Jesus’ mission from the very beginning was to be delivered into the hands of men to die for the sins of all people. The disciples had great difficulty with Christ’s teachings about His impending death. It all sounded so strange and ominous that the disciples were driven to silence by the fear that these teachings caused in them. Why would the promised Messiah, who came to rescue Israel, allow Himself to be killed? It didn’t make sense to them, and the thought of losing their beloved Christ was too much for them to bear. But thanks be to God that the truth of what Jesus taught and the accomplishment of His work is not dependent on our own understanding!

Jesus WAS delivered into the hands of men and He WAS killed in His crucifixion. He DID rise again on the third day, just as He said He would. His earthly work was far grander than healing and feeding those in need. He came to heal and to feed the spiritual need of all mankind. We needed to be saved, and that’s what He did.

Let us pray: Lord God, gracious Father, Your will and ways often work beyond our understanding. Send us Your Holy Spirit to comfort us as we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest Your Word, so that we may, with all boldness and confidence, trust that everything You do is for the good of Your dear children, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(John Baseley, Sem. I)

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
Romans 6:13

What’s in control of your life right now? Does it seem like sin is winning the fight over your life as much as you try to follow Jesus, the Son of God? We all struggle daily, hourly, and sometimes moment to moment with sin. Even though we try to avoid it, we find ourselves back in the black hole of sin in need of forgiveness from God and from our neighbor.

At first, this Bible verse appears to focus on Law, telling us what we should and shouldn’t be doing. It is a command to not give our members to sin but rather to give them to God as instruments of righteousness. However, we find it hard to follow this command.

Fortunately for us, there is also Gospel and hope found in this verse. “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.” This part of the verse reminds us that Jesus has died for our sins and is the one who offers us forgiveness and brings us from eternal death to eternal life through faith.

Should we just give into sin because we can’t help it, then? Absolutely not! We should take a stand against our own sin, even though we may fail at times. Christ has won the victory over sin and death, so we should give our lives to Him who prepared us to do good things for those around us, not because we have to, but because we want to in order to praise Him for all He has done for us.

Let us pray: dear Father in heaven, You sent Your Son to set us free from sin and death. Help us to always use our lives for Your will and forgive us when we fall short and serve our sin. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Katie Engebrecht, Deaconess Student)

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?…For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:32, 38-39

Each church season my wife and I look to learn parts of a new hymn by heart. We chose this hymn (“O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken”) for Lent this year. As we (the Church) move closer to Christ’s Passion, we sing hymns and pray through God’s Word to reflect on what Christ risked and achieved for us. In part, these words give us courage to take up the cross of confessing Christ in our lives. Although this gives us hope and strength to serve our neighbor, the main point of Lent is to reflect on our depravity. These words offer us sincere, concrete hope in the authentic Christ who distinguished Himself from us sinners by His perfect work throughout His life and on the cross so that we might never be separated from Him. Jesus does not condemn us but is constantly interceding for us so that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, we surely have earned nothing but death and harm for straying from the good life that You have wanted to give us. We ask You to hear us and let nothing interfere with our prayers to You. We thank You for Your Son, who faced death all day long so that we are justified before You, and we ask that You strengthen our confession in Your holy name, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Nathaniel Konkel, Sem I)

“Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!”
Psalm 143:10

After four weeks of Lent, it can seem as if Easter is still an eternity away, especially for those who are fasting. Likewise, our lives can feel the same way. Through trial and tribulation we find ourselves praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Exhausted, Christians are torn between the desires of the flesh and the godly desires given to them by the Holy Spirit. This conflict can appear to be an uphill battle, a never-ending turmoil, and hopelessly futile.

Yet looking ahead to Easter we know this is not so! Christ has won the battle with His suffering, death, and resurrection. While we feel the effects of sin in our lives and struggle to discipline ourselves during Lent, God still gives us relief. We feast on His body and blood during this fasting period. We see our sin through the mirror of the Law, yet are still continually comforted with the Gospel. We look to the resurrection while still anticipating Good Friday. Through all of life’s suffering and the consequences of our sin, we can still find joy in God’s mercy and dwell on it without ceasing. As baptized Christians, we now find joy in His law and seek after it. We look to God who leads us on level ground, His never-changing Word.

Let us pray: Lord God, heavenly Father, forgive all that we have done in sin this day. Draw us back to Your Word and give to us Your Spirit, that we may find joy in Your will and look to You until the end of our lives, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

(Claire Houser, Deaconess Student)