Friday after Laetare Sunday
Posted on April 1, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. John 6:60-65 (NKJV)
6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
Devotion
“No one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
Some stick with Jesus; others walk away. We are those who abide in Him. Shall we then glory in our own decision-making ability? Are we so much wiser than those who turned away? We should know better than that. We come to Jesus because we have been granted to do so by God the Father, the Holy Ghost having called us by the Gospel to faith in Christ Jesus.
It matters. If we have something to do with our own salvation, we can spend the rest of our days in this world worried about whether or not we have done our part well enough. Worse yet, if we think we have, we then reduce Jesus to only partly our Savior, for by this error we make ourselves partly our own savior. It is by grace you have been saved through faith (alone!), and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
Rejoice, dear ones in Christ, in the comfort of the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone. He alone is your Savior, and so you may walk in absolute confidence that there is nothing lacking in the salvation He has accomplished for you.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to
be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with the 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.
