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March 10, 2023

Thirsty for God

L. Roger Owens   |   Read Romans 5:1-5

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Lectionary Week
March 6–12, 2023
Scripture Overview

Three of the passages this week connect water and faith. In Exodus and the psalm, we read about the Israelites grumbling in the desert. Although they have seen God’s mighty deeds in Egypt, they have begun to question God’s provision for them. God provides water through Moses, but the place is remembered (and named) as a site where the faith of the people fails. In John, however, a place to draw water becomes a site of salvation for the Samaritan woman and eventually for the people in her village through her faith. The reading in Romans goes a different direction. Paul emphasizes the importance of faith in the face of trials and the fact that God brings salvation through Christ when fallen humanity has no other hope.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Exodus 17:1-7. How do your memories of God’s provision sustain you through tough stages of your spiritual journey?Read Psalm 95. What object, image, or memory serves for you as a symbol of God’s faithfulness?Read Romans 5:1-11. How have you found hope in stages of life when God is forming your character through suffering and endurance?Read John 4:5-42. When has letting go of your expectations or rules allowed God to work freely in your life or in the lives of others around you?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3 But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

A few years ago, I returned to the home I grew up in to clean out my childhood bedroom. The closet was still crammed with trophies, certificates, and medals I’d accumulated as a teenager. These artifacts reminded me of many of my accomplishments early in life and signaled that I’d...

God, help me discover in you that my deepest gladness will not come through my own achievements but through the gift of hope I discover in faith. Amen.


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