TCU Family,
Our next Lenten devotional is written by Rev. Bradford Green. Bradford has been the RUF campus minister at TCU since 2019; before that he spent six years ministering in Arkansas. Bradford is originally from Tennessee and met his wife Cristina (TCU ’08) working at Young Life’s Wilderness Ranch. They have three kids: Weldon (8); Rosie (5); and Wilkes (2). He enjoys reading, Tennessee football (depending on your definition of “enjoys”), and making barbecue. May Bradford’s words speak to you as you continue your journey through Lent ….
Reading: 1 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV), “ ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this is the good news that was preached to you.”
Reflection: The Kingdom of God is often pictured in the Bible as upside-down. It’s a place where weakness is strength, where the way down is the way up, and where life is found in death.
Lent encourages us to consider the nature of this reversal. Again and again in Scripture, God’s people are tempted to see what looks like strength, progress, and life—armies, personal idols, geopolitical security, other gods—and give themselves to these things. But God consistently draws them back to himself and to the truth of his word.
“All flesh is like grass,” Peter writes, echoing Isaiah 40, “and all its glory like the flower of grass.” Even the greatest things we can see with our eyes are, like ourselves, passing away. But God’s word—which can seem weak, boring, and at times discouraging—will live forever.
Peter is sure that this is good news. But how can it be good news that our bodies, our lives, our loved ones are passing away? Because the Word has become flesh. Christ has purchased us a great reversal, and he has made us right when we’re wrong. By his perfect life, fulfilling the law, and his death on the cross to pay for our sins, he has not only assured us that God’s word does indeed remain forever; he has made even the passing of this old world good news, because we know it will be redeemed and renewed at his return.
Let Us Pray:
Almighty God, help us to find hope in the good news of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Teach us to number our days in this life that is passing away, but to remember that Christ is the Word that remains forever. We look forward to the day all things will be made new; come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
Comments