Saturday, September 2, 2017
Acts 17:28 In Him we live and move and have our being.
PROVIDER, PROTECTOR, AND PRESERVER!
The IRS defines a dependent as one who relies on his parents or someone else for more than half his support. According to God's family design "growing up", in most cases, involves moving from a state of dependency to a state of independence. Yet even the most independent among us realizes that term is purely relative, for all of us depend upon others in countless areas of our lives.
Our relationship to God gives new meaning to the term "dependent". "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Whether children, youth, adults, middle age, or senior citizens, we remain ultradependent, physically and spiritually, for everything we are and have. This humble dependent spirit pervades Luther's Explanation to the First Article, as he cites the three great "P's" which show our Creator-Gods ongoing hand of blessing in our lives. Our God is our Provider, Protector and Preserver.
Here's how Martin Luther summarizes this beautiful truth …
"I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true."
-- From the "Lutheran Spokesman," May 1995.
