Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 12, 2022 by under
Scripture: Romans 14:7-17 (NKJV)
14:7 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.
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Devotion
As Christians we are to understand that it is important to know whose we are, rather than just who we are. As noted in yesterday’s devotion, Jesus’ command that you “be perfect” does not bode well for us if we are to focus on who we are. We are not perfect. We really don’t have anything to show for ourselves except our sins. To really know oneself is to confess, “I am a sinner.”
True joy is to be found in knowing whose we are. We have been redeemed by Jesus, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death” (see Luther’s Small Catechism). We are His possession. The words “His possession” can strike a nerve within us. We tend to cringe at the idea of being owned by someone, of being a servant, or worse, a slave to someone. We only need to recall the horrifying history of slavery in this world. But the fact remains, we are not our own. Adam and Eve did not come into being of their own accord. God created them. When they fell into sin the whole of creation was corrupted. Upon Adam and Eve’s fall into sin, Satan laid claim to them; a claim from which they could not release themselves. They were under new ownership.
Thanks be to Jesus who has redeemed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil!
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; 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.
