Friday after the Ninth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 6, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 12:54-59 (NKJV)
12:54 Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?
57 “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? 58 When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. 59 I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.”
Devotion
In every culture, at every time, human beings have been able to read the weather, to some extent, to know what’s coming based on what they see. If only people were as skillful at applying the same principle to spiritual things!
At the time of Jesus, all the signs were flashing at the Jews that the “time of their visitation” (cf. Luke 19:44) had come, that the Messiah had arrived, that Jesus was He, and that He was about to offer Himself as the atoning sacrifice for their sins. Other signs were there, too, that judgment was coming on all who stubbornly rejected their Messiah. But many shut their eyes to the signs. Just as a person who is justly accused by another would be wise to reconcile with his adversary before they get to court, so the Jews would have been wise to reconcile with God through Christ before they arrived at the Day of Judgment. If not, there would literally be hell to pay.
Can’t you see all the signs pointing to Jesus as the Christ? Can’t you see the signs pointing to His imminent return for judgment? There is little time left. You would be foolish to waste it. Instead, be wise. Stay close to God’s Word. Live in daily contrition and repentance. Serve God and your neighbor in the little time you have left, as one who has learned from the Holy Scriptures to discern this time.
Prayer: Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
