By Don Schatz

Public Knowledge

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

“Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 New Revised Standard Version

Many Native American tribes use totem poles.  Native families and clans used them to depict objects or animals in nature that identified them and/or represented significant historical characteristics of their family/clan.  It was a way to express identity, to remember it, and to share it.  I often feel a tug to learn more about the history of a native people when I see their totem poles.

Moses addressed the people of Israel when they were on the east side of the Jordan River, poised to cross the river and enter the long-promised land.  The word of the Lord he shared with them defined them, identified them.  It is important to remember who we are as God’s children.  It is important to teach each generation of our children that they are God’s children.  It is vital that we remember and pass on our life-giving through Christ as objects of God’s love and grace.

The Word of God, our identity as disciples of Jesus, shows in our actions of love in the world.  Loving and serving God, loving and serving the neighbor, we are living emblems of God’s presence in the world.  Our lives can tell the story of the Gospel to neighbors, family, friends and even strangers.

“This is who I am.  A child of God by God’s grace in Christ Jesus.”  What are the ways you have put God’s Word in your hearts?  What are the ways you share the Gospel through loving God and loving your neighbor?

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado