Word for Word 8/26/26

This past July our youth group joined two hundred and fifty others for our national youth convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was in Cincinnati because that put us near the Creation Museum west of Cincinnati and the Ark Encounter just across the border in Kentucky. These two wonderful sites help the Bible come to life through evidence for creation, responses to evolutionary claims, and a life-sized recreation of Noah’s ark!

Our theme for this year was “In the beginning…” which comes from the very first verse in the Bible, Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is how it all began. Out of nothing there was something by the power of His word. God created a beautiful world in six twenty-four hour days and rested on the seventh. 

It is a comfort to know that this world did not just come to be by chance. You are not just a blob of molecules. You are a human being made in the image of God. This world and everything in it are products of God’s thoughtful creativity. That includes you! He made you the way he wanted. You don’t need to begrudge any part of you - your looks, your smarts, your abilities, or anything else. God doesn’t. You don’t need to worry about how you will survive the years ahead. God is the one who provides for you. Not only does he provide you with all you need to support this body and life, but he provided you a Savior who has redeemed you from sin and death. So, what ought we to do?

Thank our good and gracious God and look at his creation with wonder. He made me? He made this for me? He loves me? Yes, he does!

We need to be reminded of these things. We live in a world where people measure their self-worth based on how many likes they have, their looks, their job, their smarts, and many other things. But God made you the way he wanted. Be comfortable in your own skin. God is your creator.

Now you may say, I’ve made mistakes and sinned. You feel guilty. We haven’t been perfect parents, children, co-workers, and friends. It’s true! But God has redeemed you by his own Son. Jesus paid for all your sins on the cross.

No matter how many mistakes and failures you have had, God didn’t and never will give up on you. He promises to forgive all those who come to him in repentance and faith. Jesus died so that you could live. He rose from the dead showing that he will raise our bodies from the grave. You matter to God.

As we live in this world we are also tempted to be worried by the future - what will happen, look at the international turmoil, or the ever-changing markets. Our comfort is the same God who created this world promises to care for it and that includes you. I’d like to close this devotion by reciting the first article of the Apostles’ Creed and sharing with you Martin Luther’s explanation of it in the Small Catechism.

The First Article
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

What does this mean?
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 ability to reason and all my senses, and still preserves them; that He richly and daily provides me with food and clothing, home and family, property and goods, and all that I need to support this body and life; that He protects me from all danger, guards and keeps me from all evil; and all this God does 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, to serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.

What a comfort it is to know that we have a creative, powerful, and good God who cares for us! Amen. 

Pastor Abraham Faugstad
King of Grace Lutheran Church ELS, Waukon and Trinity Lutheran Church