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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
Wednesday, OCTOBER 11, 2017
"Who Am I?" by Teresa Coda
Jesus said, “I tell you, you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18 (NRSV))"Who Am I?" by Teresa Coda
Now that I am between careers, I find it challenging when I first meet people. In the past, when asked what I do for a living, I have loved being able to say, “I am a student” or “I am a teacher.” In a few short words, these descriptions summarized aspects of my identity that I was proud to claim. For instance, implicit in the statement, “I am a teacher,” is the understanding that I love to learn, that I work hard, and that I care about children.
While having an identity rooted in a particular title was comforting, unemployment has given me the opportunity to pause and think: Who am I, really? What I do professionally might reflect some of my priorities and my hopes, but it doesn’t reveal who I am at my core.
In today’s quoted scripture, Jesus doesn’t tell Simon that he is a prophet or a disciple or a teacher. Instead, Jesus calls him by name: Peter, rock. And this identity has not come from Simon Peter’s work or his actions but from his faith — his declaration that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God. So it is with me. My primary identity comes from my faith, from being a child of God.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
O God, thank you for loving us and valuing us, no matter what job we have or do not have. Amen.
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Matthew 16:13 When Yeshua came into the territory around Caesarea Philippi, he asked his talmidim, “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” 14 They said, “Well, some say Yochanan the Immerser, others Eliyahu, still others Yirmeyahu or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say I am?” 16 Shim‘on Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living God.” 17 “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “how blessed you are! For no human being revealed this to you, no, it was my Father in heaven. 18 I also tell you this: you are Kefa,” [which means ‘Rock,’] “and on this rock I will build my Community, and the gates of Sh’ol will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he warned the talmidim not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
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No matter what, I am a child of God.
People struggling to find work
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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