Friday after the Seventh Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 5, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 17:1-2 (NKJV)
17:1 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Devotion
Jesus gives His disciples–who are to be the Apostles of their Lord and living extensions of His ministering of love by grace–a burden that only faith can bear. He teaches them to love in such a way that does not put temptation or stumbling blocks in the way of His little ones. Weak and wavering brethren might be overwhelmed or easily confused. Error is dangerous to everyone. Faithful teaching requires a loving disposition and calls for disciplined self-sacrifice, and Jesus commands His disciples to forgive a penitent brother as often as needed. He asks of them a servant’s humble devotion, working with a love which considers a duty done the least that love can do.
For anyone to walk in such faith and service requires that we request an increase in our weak faith if there is to be any hope of success. Jesus delivers this increase in the assurance that it is not the power of our believing, but the power of God in whom we believe that achieves the impossible. By His grace and Spirit we are made able to bring forth fruit in bearing patiently with little ones, forgiving without limit, and always trusting in Jesus.
Prayer: O God, Whose never-failing Providence ordereth all things both in Heaven and Earth: we humbly beseech Thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us those things which be profitable for us; 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.
