Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

April 16, 2026Today's Reading: Catechism: Creed First ArticleDaily Lectionary: Exodus 25:1-22; Exodus 25:23-30:38; Luke 5:17-39“All this He does only out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.” (Luther’s Explanation of the First Article of the Apostles Creed)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God does all of it. ALL OF IT. Only out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.Stop trying to take the workload from Him. He’s got the whole world in His hands. He gives daily bread to everyone, yes, even to all evil people. He sent His Son to be God and man that we would be like God. There’s nothing you could give to God, or complete for God, that would even compare.The problem is that we give half-heartedly, and our merit is worthless. Our mercy is half-hearted and short-term, and goodness is brief. God gives all that we need to support this body and life. All of it. God is the giver, and the doer, and the fulfiller because he knows that we cannot give, and do, what He desires. God is the merciful Father who makes up for our fathers' failings, and our own. We don’t deserve Him, and He doesn’t deserve us.Yet He sends His Son to die for us poor, miserable sinners, without any merit or worthiness in me.Thanks be to God that He does all of it. ALL OF IT. His Fatherly divine goodness and mercy is revealed in His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. He is my heavenly Father, and I am His dear child. Remember this, dear baptized child of God. You are His, and He will not leave you, nor forsake you. He has done everything for your good that you would know you have a merciful God, a Father in heaven, a Son who saved you, and the Spirit who comforts you.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.We all believe in one true God, Who created earth and heaven, The Father, who to us in love Has the right of children given. He in soul and body feeds us; All we need His hand provides us; Through all snares and perils leads us, Watching that no harm betide us. He cares for us by day and night; All things are governed by His might. (LSB 954:1)