Devotion for January 10, 2015: “Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” - Ezekiel 18:31-32 God does not want people in hell. God would have all people be saved and in heaven with Him; however, people do not feel the same way. Many people choose to not have faith in God for myriad reasons. Some people do not have faith because they cannot see God. Others lack faith because they love the allurements of the world too much. Still others lack faith because they feel that church and God are just a ‘crutch’ for people who cannot handle reality. Whatever the reason, there are countless people who choose to not believe in God. Yet, at the same time, we can never choose to believe in God. We cannot make a conscious decision to believe in Jesus for our salvation. We, as people, could never believe in God on our own for one simple reason: we are sinners. By ourselves we walk away from God. By ourselves we commit countless sins. Yes, by ourselves, we continually walk away from God and not toward Him. Take worship as an example. So often if you ask people why they come to worship they will tell you it is to praise God and to sing to Him… so then worship becomes about what we are doing. If we are coming to worship to praise God, shouldn’t there be a reason? If we are coming to worship to sing to God, shouldn’t there be something behind that? When we proclaim that we are coming to church to simply praise God, we have taken worship from its natural ‘receiving’ nature and have turned it into something that we do and we give to God. Thus, when we come to worship to praise Him, without anything behind it, we are the ones who are most important in that matter. However, when we come to worship to praise God because of what He has done for us, well, that is a different matter. “But Pastor, it’s the same thing.” No it is not. Imagine Ezekiel taking the words of God to the people of Israel and they say to him, “Don’t worry we’re already praising God, we’re okay.” Yet, they have not been forgiven. They have not received forgiveness and grace from God. They have not turned from their transgressions… but they feel that they are there to praise God. You see, when we come to worship, when we come before God, we need to acknowledge that we are sinners. We need to realize that we have sinned mightily against God and that we deserve nothing from Him, nor do we deserve to praise Him name. However, God has taken action for us. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world to be our Savior. Jesus came into this world to live the perfect life for us, because we could not. Jesus came into this world to die the innocent death, bearing all of our sin and guilt on the cross, for we could never approach God with all of our sin and guilt upon us. And Jesus came to rise from the dead. And because of His rising, He has announced that God has accepted His sacrifice on behalf of all people. Because of His rising, we know that our sins are forgiven and we have heaven waiting for us. And for this reason, we can praise and thank God for all that He has done. But, understand it is not of our own doing. For by ourselves we would continue in sin. Rather, it is because of Jesus Christ and all that He has done that we have salvation. And now, to this very day, God continues to call out to us through His Word and in His Sacraments, announcing to us the forgiveness of all of our sins… and through faith in Jesus Christ we know that forgiveness and salvation are ours. Prayer: Lord, thank You for calling and choosing me. I know that of myself I could never come to You; yet, You called me, a poor, sinful being and made me one of Your own through faith in Jesus Christ. Thank You Lord for all that You continually do for me. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria!
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 00:29:46 +0000
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