The Friday after the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 26, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 16:16-17 (NKJV)
16:16 “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.”
Devotion
What exactly is Jesus talking about when He says, “Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it”? How is it that “everyone is pressing into” the kingdom of God? Would “everyone” include unbelievers as well as believers? Jesus helps us to understand this in Matthew 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has been treated violently, and violent men take it by force.” The unbelievers are “pressing” with violence. They are like Satan himself, tirelessly wreaking havoc on Christians.
But what about believers? If faith is God’s work alone, how does a person “press” into the kingdom of God? We do well to remember who is really doing the pressing. God even uses the violence of unbelievers that we face as Christians to draw us to Himself. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Through thick and thin, God is at work “pressing” us into the kingdom. This “pressing” sometimes hurts, but the pain we feel pales in comparison to the pain our Lord endured to secure our place in heaven.
Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; 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.
