Have you ever been so excited about something or someone that you could not stop talking about it (or him or her)? If there is any doubt about what Paul was excited about, the center of his thoughts and attention, the opening paragraph to 1 Corinthians makes this clear. One name occurs eight times in nine verses. Paul could not stop talking about Jesus. Without Jesus, nothing else he said or did made any sense. What about us?

In our reading from Deuteronomy, God promises to be faithful to the people, even renewing the covenant, even though God knows the people will forsake him. Do we deserve a God like that? And yet, God is like that.

In our reading from Psalm 40, in the midst of difficulties, David begins: I waited patiently and God heard my cry. Much of David’s difficulties were of his own doing. Did he deserve to have God on his side? Probably not, and yet as we will discover later in the Old Testament, David was a man after God’s own heart. In other words, God’s nature was to love David. And what God would do for David, God would do for you.

As the people reach the Promised Land and prepare to enter it, God tells them repeatedly to be “strong and courageous.” Recognizing that God is with me, that God’s faithfulness to me is not even dependent on my faithfulness to God – not only does this make me wonder why anyone would not choose to follow God, but I have renewed confidence that I can go through this day strong and courageous.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. To have Jesus always on my heart, I want to make him proud today.