Thursday after Reminiscere Sunday
Scripture: St. Luke 16:10-18 (NKJV)
16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.
18 “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
Devotion
“You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.”
This call to repentance applies to everyone. Our Lord spoke it to the greedy, lustful Pharisees, but His words should stir our hearts also. We are all tempted by the devil to love other things more than our true Lord and Master. It is easy for us to be loyal to our corrupt desires and despise our Maker and Redeemer.
In our age, many people are concerned about governments or companies spying on what we do on our phones or computers, but so few people seem to remember that God knows our hearts. He sees all our thoughts, words, and deeds. Hypocrites despise this and hate the idea that they are accountable for their sins. They justify themselves and attack those who remind them of the truth. But if we are faithful according to God’s Spirit and Truth, He makes us to be humble and repentant. He makes us confess our sin and cling to His grace in Christ crucified, rather than try to justify ourselves.
Hypocrites think they can force their problems away by divorce, by arguments that dismiss the truth, by money or social power, or even by murder. Satan wants us to think that such self-justification in the world of men can hide our guilt before God. But the Lord makes it clear that we are only justified through faith in Christ, and we are only saved because He takes away our sin.
Prayer: O God, who seest that of ourselves we have no strength, keep us both outwardly and inwardly that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
