Daily Devotional
Children of the Resurrection
The Lord claims a people for Himself, and therefore He also orders their life. In Moses He forbids Israel to live like Egypt and Canaan; in Isaiah He promises a city no longer forsaken but called by a new name; in the psalm He teaches us not to trust in the arm of man; and in the Gospel the Son exposes proud men who resist God’s authority while pretending to honor His law. The thread is one: those who belong to God must be marked by holy obedience, holy hope, and holy worship.
The body is not ours to spend in uncleanness, nor the life of our neighbor something to exploit, because all life belongs to God. As Clement says, “You shall perform My judgments, and keep My precepts, and walk in them: I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep all My commandments, and do them. He that does them shall live in them. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 18:1-5” The Lord’s commands are not ornaments for speech; they are a rule for the body, the table, the bed, the tongue, and the marketplace.
Yet obedience is not self-confidence. When the earth shakes and enemies press hard, the psalm forbids boasting in princes. “not by ourselves, but by the help of God, we must be saved.” Therefore the church waits on God, prays, repents, and endures.
And why endure? Because Christ teaches that there is a world to come. Men dispute, flatter, and scheme for advantage in this age; but the faithful seek to be counted worthy of the resurrection. If we are to bear God’s new name, we must not live as though marriage, appetite, money, or public praise were everlasting. We are being trained now for the life that does not die.
“You shall perform My judgments, and keep My precepts, and walk in them: I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep all My commandments, and do them. He that does them shall live in them. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 18:1-5”
— Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies)
“not by ourselves, but by the help of God, we must be saved.”
— Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III
For Reflection & Discussion
What one practice of uncleanness, loose speech, or sexual compromise must you cut off today in order to keep the Lord’s commandments with your body?
Where have you been trusting a human protector, connection, or advantage, and what concrete act of prayer or fasting will you set in its place this week?
How will you live as a child of the resurrection today—by giving alms, making peace with an enemy, or refusing a craving that trains you to live only for this age?
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