Now could it be, that Jesus has brought you to the Christian faith, giving you a living hope, and put here at this time in history, in a particular family, community, workplace or school, to bring that hope to others that you meet? We know that God has put you here in this place and time. And you serve as the hands and feet of Jesus.

Jesus says: “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles [meaning unbelievers] seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” Your heavenly Father knows. He knows what you need for this life. He hasn’t let you down yet, and He won’t. He knows what you need better than you do, so you can trust that whatever comes your way is a gift of His grace.

For all this, we are, as Martin Luther writes, “in duty bound to thank and praise, to serve and obey Him” (Explanation to First Article). The heart that He has redeemed and cleansed by His precious blood should be filled with fear, love, and trust for Him. The hands that He freed by offering His hands to the nails should be employed in God-pleasing work and for the help of our neighbors. The voices that He has loosed from the cries of misery and woe in our former lost condition should be utilized for the praise of His glorious name and the proclamation of His grace.

You have not perfectly loved your neighbors, but Jesus perfectly loved you. If you could look through His eyes and see how He thinks of you, you would be stunned. How could anyone love me like that? He loved you all the way to the cross where He paid for your sins of self-centeredness, pride, and resentment. He suffered there as though He were the heartless priest and Levite who ignored the dying man. He gave Himself fully to redeem you, to justify you, to save you.

The victory that Jesus won over sin, death, and the devil is now declared to you. Your ears which have been tempted to listen to what is false, lawless, self-serving, and seductive, He has filled with the comforting words of His forgiveness. Your tongue which has often been used for words of anger, disrespect, lies, and gossip, He washes clean by His holy blood and loosens for His praise.

Jesus was the only truly good person who ever walked the earth. He perfectly obeyed the Commandments of God. He loved God and every single one of His neighbors without hesitation or failure. Because He lived that life while wearing our human flesh, all His perfect, holy works count for you. His generosity covers over your greed. His kindness covers over your judgmental attitude. His humility covers over your pride. His sacrifice covers over your selfishness. All that God’s holy Law required of you, Jesus fulfilled for you and supplies to you.

We know where to find peace, or rather how to find peace. Peace is found wherever the Prince of Peace is graciously present. Peace is found in His holy Word. Peace is found in His holy Sacraments. Through these means, God the Holy Spirit plants and pours peace into your heart. He brings you this peace through Jesus wherever you may be—in church, in your home, at work, on the road—wherever His Words of Peace are spoken, heard, or remembered.

Our greatest treasure is the grace we have received from God through the work of Jesus Christ. We might lose our home someday and our possessions and everything in our investment accounts. But even if we are left penniless and homeless, that will not change what we have in Christ, the riches that are ours by faith in Him. That is a “higher good,” than all the unrighteous wealth of the world.

Jesus does not say that the knowledge you gained in the past will automatically carry you to the finish line. He says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Joh. 8:31-32). He wants us to remain in His Word, live in it, soak it up like a sponge, meditate on it, talk about it with others, hear it, learn it, pray it. This is the best inoculation and protection against the devil’s attacks that we can have.

All of the trials and triumphs He sends you, all of the burdens and blessings, are meant to prepare you for something more than this life. The One who saves your body by providing for you each day has also saved your soul. God the Father addressed your greatest hunger, your greatest need, by sending His Son to redeem you.

By faith in Him, we are connected to the righteousness and holiness we need to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus’ life far exceeded the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. It was not just a superficial righteousness. It was a complete righteousness in all of His actions, words, and thoughts. He perfectly fulfilled the holy commands of God for us, and He credits that righteous life to us.

God the Father sent His only Son to suffer and die for you and the whole world. We were all spiraling down the whirlpool of sin toward our death. We had no anchor of righteousness to secure us, no effort of our own that could save us. The harder we tried and trusted ourselves, the more we failed. But then Jesus joined us in the boat. He made the tempest of death be still by His death on the cross. And He supplied everything we needed to reach the shore of heaven by perfectly keeping the Commandments of God in our place.