Friday, September 4, 2026

This devotion pairs with this weekend’s Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” (John 1:45-46)

With so many artificial intelligence-generated images out there, it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s fake. Recently, a co-worker showed me an image we were planning to use for a project. My first thought when I saw it was, “That’s so AI.” I didn’t want a fabricated image for this project. I wanted something real. And even though the image had come from a credible source, and was purported not to be AI-generated, I was skeptical. It seemed too good to be true. It was a picture-perfect landscape, sun rays glistening over a snow-capped mountain behind a glassy, turquoise, tropical-looking lagoon. I did some digging and found that the image had a photographer credited, so that was promising. But still, something in me couldn’t believe what I was seeing (or wouldn’t believe it). What pushed me over the threshold was when I showed the image to a friend. She looked at it and said, “I’ve been there. Yes, it’s a real place,” she told me. She had dipped her toes in those turquoise waters and skied the snowy slopes in the background. I was converted. Not only do I believe it’s a real place. Now I want to go and see it!

There are many things about Jesus that may seem too good to be true—that He is the Word of God made human, the Word who created you and delights in you—that He has come to dispel the darkness of sin and death and doubt and the devil—that whoever trusts in Him will not be lost forever in the darkness because the darkness wasn’t able to hold Jesus down in death, because He rose from the dead and He promises to raise you from the dead and to make everything beautiful in its time—does it sometimes sound too good to be true? If so, what would it take to convert you, or re-convert you, to bring you over the threshold from doubt to faith, from skepticism to wonder and desire, to dip your toes in God’s life, to jump into the waters of God and explore the mountains of God? It probably wouldn’t just be one thing, but many things—influences, small nudges, bits of evidence. But in another sense, those many things are just one thing: witness. We need a witness. We need witnesses, like my friend, people who’ve been there, who’ve experienced the beauty for themselves and invite us to come (or come back) and see.

As we begin a new season of The Lutheran Hour, that’s what I hope we can do for you in these devotions, broadcasts, podcasts, videos, online courses, booklets and books we offer. I pray that the speakers and the writers and the behind-the-scene workers in this ministry can be something like a friend for you who’s been there, to help you sort out what’s fake, to re-experience the power of Jesus and His Word in the Bible to bring us all over the threshold, and into the household of faith, into life with God—real life, and to become the sort of friends who are willing to say to the skeptical and to the distant, “You come, too.”

WE PRAY: Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus to be Your Witness, and to make us His. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour.

Reflection Questions:

1. What helps you sort out what’s real and what’s fake?
2. Who are the people who’ve helped you see Jesus more clearly?
3. Who may need to see Jesus in you? How are you showing them?

Today's Readings:

2 Chronicles 22
Joel 1
2 Corinthians 9

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