by Pastor Douglas Brauner

God Has a Better Way

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
Jeremiah 6:16 English Standard Version

These two churches in Verona, Italy have been standing tall for centuries. As I considered this picture, I noticed another tower standing high in the background, one to which people turn today more than they do to the church, a tower with multiple satellite dishes.

Few people today run to the church for answers; they run to their phones and computers. WE run to our phones and computers, to the all-knowing internet when we need answers. We have shifted omniscience from God to the impersonal World Wide Web.

I can choose what I want to read or not read with the internet, what I want to hear or not hear. The internet tells me what I want to know. It is a powerful instrument that lets me be god of my life.

God is calling us back to the “ancient paths” and the “good way” of his love. It’s time for us to listen again to Jeremiah because his message is meant for us. It is time for us to run back to the church, to the elect people of God gathered in worship, to the care of people who are real and struggle with the same issues we do. It’s time to head to confession and forgiveness, not to voices that make excuses for our poor behavior.

It’s ironic that I’m writing this devotion to be read on the internet which is my confession that the internet isn’t all bad. Yet, it’s time to receive Jesus in the community of real people and not to self-proclaimed experts. It is in the fellowship of God’s people that we discover companionship in the daily grind of life.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado