Wednesday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 27, 2021 by under
Scripture: Romans 14:4-12 (NKJV)
14:4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
Devotion
The Church is described as a household. And within this household we are called to be servants—the servants of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We are not called to be the Master of this house, or to be the Judge over our fellow Christians. This office is appointed to Christ, and to Christ alone. Christ is the Head; we all are members of one another. Christ is our Master; and we all are brethren. This is the appointed order in the Church, and when we operate this way with each other, the Church flourishes.
Disorder arises when we place ourselves over one another and usurp to ourselves the office of Judge and Master. We shouldn’t judge one another in distinctions of worship days or outward observances that do not militate against the Faith. In matters of Christian liberty the strong should not offend the weak, and the weak should not prevent the strong. Christ died for us all, weak and strong. He has called us all to be members of this one household so that we all cooperate with one another in love. We must all give an account to God for our works, not for the works of someone else. We all have various responsibilities that God has given us to perform according to our own vocations. Each of us should focus on his own service, and not be so ready to judge our brother.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness, that through Thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; 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.
