Clothe yourself with Love Col. 3:14

Our Old Testament reading today begins with these words from Exodus 17: “ From the wilderness of Sin …” Now, that doesn’t sound like a good place to be, does it? The Israelites found themselves in quite a messy situation—and honestly, it’s one we may find all too familiar. Have you ever been absolutely sure your plan was going to work out… only to watch it fall apart? That sinking disappointment? That’s where Israel was. God had already led them victoriously out of Egypt, through miracle after miracle. They were on their way to the Promised Land—but patience, as we all know, is not a common virtue, not then and not now. How patient are we this Lenten season? This time, Israel faced something serious: Lack of water. In the desert, that’s a death sentence. It’s serious! But, remember, this was supposed to be a people of faith! And yet, what did they do? They panicked. They freaked out! They looked at the problem—and forgot God’s promise. Before long, they were arguing, blaming Moses, a...

Most of us have seen what a full house renovation looks like! I don’t mean a little cosmetic here and there, I mean a complete transformation of the house. It can be such a joy to see the final result of a house being renovated! But the process is messy! We all want to see quickly the finished product but it takes time! Time to plan/ to refine, to remove walls and roof, to apply a new roof, new windows, new paint, new chimney, new Kitchen, new bedrooms, new pantry closets… It takes time to remove old things! I wish I can show you the before and after picture of a renovated house! It is simply amazing! Just to gaze at the transformation! Jesus did not compare human transformation to house renovation, I did. Jesus compared human transformation to a new birth! A Jewish leader in the Great Sanhedrin (Nicodemus) had come at night to ask a question about our souls’ salvation. What is beyond all this that we see in this world? He knew Jesus was a teacher from God with great revelation from h...