Friday after the Ninth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 2, 2024 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
Jesus here is telling us that looking at the world is like predicting the weather. When it is cloudy, we expect rain; when the wind comes in from the desert, we expect it to be hot. In a very similar way, we see the evil of the world around us and we should expect not peace and tranquility, but conflict. We should expect conflict because the world hates God and what He has to say to the world. God’s message to the world is that it is sinful, and that people can only be saved by trusting in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
The world would have us believe that God will approve of us if we do our best, or at least do better than someone else. But this is a horrible perversion of the Gospel itself. It tramples the sacrifice of Jesus Christ underfoot, because if we can work to save ourselves, it is not His work but ours that saves us. And yet, this is exactly what some people in the world believe. We cannot harmonize this idea with what our Lord and Savior tells us, and so we should expect conflict on this point. May God give us the strength and patience to endure such conflict for His name’s sake.
Collect: 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.
