Father, thank You for directing my thoughts and actions in and out of preparations for Sunday’s sermon, planning ahead for worship, and trying to get in a little exercise, as well. You are the guiding force in all I do! And I could not be in better hands!
Luke 10:8-16 (<<click to read the passage)
Several years ago, I worked in a Christian bookstore. One of the “perks”, for me at least, was that we were encouraged to read whatever we wanted – with the understanding that we take great care of the books we read. This would make us more valuable to our customers, in that we would be able to make good suggestions in their areas of interest.
I was a voracious reader and read like crazy! I really enjoyed Christian fiction, so I went through several of those. I regret not keeping track of what I read because from time to time I think of something regarding one of those books and for the life of me, I cannot remember titles or authors.
For example, a portion of one book I read dealt with two individuals – a murderer on death row and a woman who dedicated much of her time and resources to her church. They died and stood before God.
Before his execution, the murderer was visited by a minister. Through the course of their conversation, he realized the error of his ways and with true regret and sincerity of heart, he accepted Christ as his Savior. The vile man that he had been was no more. A new creation stood before his Creator and was welcomed into His loving arms…for eternity!
The woman who had so faithfully given of herself to the many needs of her church look into God’s eyes expecting the same reception. But her name did not appear in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Instead, she heard Him say,
“I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].” Matthew 7:23 (AMP)
She thought all of her actions would grant her entrance into eternal reward. But because she had never embraced a relationship with Jesus…because she had not accepted His offering of forgiveness, she was banished…for eternity…
She had had numerous opportunities to show true regret and in sincerity of heart accept Christ as her Savior but she chose to earn her own way instead.
In today’s passage, Jesus goes through a litany of cities with whom He had interacted. They all had a choice to make. They could have accepted Him but instead most rejected Him. He did not match what they thought the Messiah should be and chose instead to follow what they thought best…and their condemnation was sure.
Interestingly enough, in His litany, He held up cities of ill repute from times gone by, stating that if they had witnessed God’s hand at work amongst them “they would have repented and changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes [to show deep regret for sin].” v13b
Despite the “enlightened” time in which we find ourselves, we – that is you and I – have the exact same choice to make as the cities in Jesus’ time…and as the woman who so dedicatedly gave what she thought would do the job.
The last statement that Jesus made to His disciples before they set out on their mission, we must take to heart, as well.
“The one who listens to you listens to Me; and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and the one who rejects Me rejects Him [My heavenly Father] who sent Me.” v16
The choice is ours.
May 20th, 2020, Wed, 8:15 pm
