Day 21: Victory of Faith, and Failure of Gratitude
March 20
by Michael Lovett
Readings:
Reflection:
Read the scriptures and then click here for a video of the devotional if you prefer.
Today's readings could not paint two more different pictures. In Daniel, we see steadfast surrender and faith. In the Matthew reading, boy, does the man who was forgiven years' worth of salary miss the point, showing zero gratitude.
So, how are you today? How are you landing in this devotional? Today is essentially the halfway point of a 40-plus-day journey, and the point is to be formed by liturgical (habitual) faith, and gratitude for who God is, and what he provides for us in Jesus and our daily bread (the essentials of our faith). What is shifting in you as you engage in this centuries-old liturgy?
Daniel was a prime example of faith and devotion. He was smart, young, and a true believer. So he stood out for his convictions, but he also did a great job in his work in Babylon. He was promoted, then the king changed the law to force worship of himself. Daniel had clear boundaries and grounded strength in his faith, and so did his two exiled countrymen. They got a death sentence. They are dropped in a furnace to be burned alive, and, wait for it... It backfires (first dad joke of the series)! The king is so surprised and impressed, he orders the furnace opened, and Daniel and his buddies come out unscathed. I love this last line in the reading today: "They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." The king was so impressed that he promoted Daniel and his buddies and protected their lives with a royal order!
In the New Testament today, the story is so simple that an elementary schoolchild could understand it. A man is forgiven an insane level of debt, which Jesus playfully says was "10,000 bags of gold." It's a parable, and Jesus' audience knew this. The point is that he is calling out those of us who get really resentful at others who wrong us and, therefore, are in debt to us; they owe us an apology or several dollars, and we can't let it go. In the parable, assuming each of the tne ten thousand bags of gold had 10 ounces of gold, it would be worth more than $500 million. And this guy goes and throws a man in jail for not paying him back about $6,000! That is less than 1/10 of one percent of the $500 million!
The man with the larger debt remained unchanged by the mercy he received. We often do the same: though we’ve been forgiven an immeasurable amount, we still live as if the world owes us. Jesus is telling a timeless story about the absurdity of ego and the poison of an ungrateful heart.
But how do we stop being like that first man? That’s the purpose of Lent. It’s an invitation to fill our ordinary days with the practice of discernment. By waking up to our own selfishness and recalibrating toward gratitude now, we learn the "language" of the Spirit. Then, when the big, pressure-packed decisions arrive, that whisper will be a voice we already recognize.
God is so good that He’d forgive a $500 million debt just to see us live differently. In fact, He gave us something more costly—His own Son. In the face of that kind of grace, faith and gratitude aren't just nice gestures; They're the only appropriate response to the heart of God.
Song:
Jesus, My Beloved – Jonathan Ogden ft. Kindred Worship
Content for wisdom and contentment at: urenuf.life
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