Our Eager Expectation
Today’s Verses:
Philippians 1:20 ESV
As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
I wasn’t expecting it, but on my 13th birthday, my life changed. That morning, upon waking up, my mother informed me that now that I was a teenager, she wouldn’t be doing the things she usually did for me, like washing my clothes, making my bed, or picking up my socks when I left them on the floor. I can’t remember my response to this life-changing moment, but on this day, her expectations of me ramped up. Recalling the bumpy few weeks after my 13th birthday, as I ran out of clean clothes, was jarring. But I learned to wash, iron, fold, and put away my clothes, especially after that one time I left a pair of socks on the floor. Upon coming home from school, I noticed my mother had duct-taped them together and dropped them on my bed.
In our Bible verse today, Saint Paul writes that he has “eager expectation and hope” that His work for Jesus Christ would grow His glory higher in the eyes and hearts of people he comes in contact with. Now, Paul, during the writing of Philippians, was under arrest, but his focus was not on himself, but that he would be able to honor Jesus in his life. His “eager expectation” was only ramped up in his writing to the people of Philippi, directing his work not on himself, but on Jesus.
This gives us a great example of what it means to “love our neighbor,” as we discussed in church this weekend and yesterday in our devotional. The direction of our faithful life is to expound Jesus to others in what we do and say, especially in times when people are in need. It is never about us, only about Jesus, the world’s Savior. Our “eager expectation” is to glorify Jesus even higher in our works, highlighting Him and the salvation that comes from our Lord, not in ourselves. Today, let us show God’s love to our neighbors by sharing with them the blessings of God given to us in our Baptism, namely, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that we receive through faith.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Loving Father, help guide my eager expectations today so I can put my strength in living out my faith in my Lord Jesus, Your beloved Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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