Daily devotion – Friday 10th September 2021
The West Australian Newspaper today – “W.A. Government may consider scrapping rights of religious schools to hire & fire on basis of faith & being gay.”
Today’s West Australian newspaper reported the above changes. It is no longer surprising to us who know we are living in the Last Days, prior to Christ’s return for His Church, to read such seismic shifts occurring in today’s society.
But the saddest change has not been the readily acceptance of those who do not know Christ to such things but more so the complacency that continues to be in the Church today.
Whilst the world hurries to its time of judgment, the Church seemingly meanders in its desire to pray, its adherence to God’s Word and its need to gather at every opportunity in these final days.
Last night as a small number gathered for prayer, we taught through the Gospel of Luke chapter 9.
This portion of Scripture finishes with Jesus speaking to three half-hearted followers. Each one gave an excuse for not being fully committed to following Jesus even though He invited them so.
Luke 9: 57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Notice they spoke the phrase – “….but let me first…”
Jesus knew the first man would not be prepared to deal with difficult times, persecution, going without.
The second man – wanted to wait until his father had passed away, which could take years, then once he had his father’s inheritance, a financial safety net, only then would he be ready to follow Jesus.
The third man – was concerned what his family might say about his full commitment to Jesus, thus he was not really able to do too much, go too far….just in case…you know?
Therefore, Jesus spoke to them – saying they were NOT fit for the kingdom of God.
Let’s put each of these excuses in a marriage scenario to gain more clarity.
The first man – “I am not sure about getting married, staying married, what if things don’t go smoothly, what if we run out of money, what if we are struggling to find somewhere to live….?”
The second man- “I can think of marriage but not yet. I want to stay around home until I have the security of my inheritance, and so I will not get married until that occurs which means waiting for father to pass. After that I am good to go.”
The third man – “I might marry you, but I will check out with my family first and see if they are all savvy with my decision to commit my life to you. They will always have first priority in my life. If we do decide to marry, then their input into every decision will of course be part of the relationship.”
Can you imagine a prospective bride hearing such things from a proposing groom as such? It would be a disastrous marriage.
We tend to forget that our relationship with Jesus Christ is predicated on our total commitment, our total surrender to Him as our Lord and Saviour.
It’s not a matter of negotiation on our part!
There continues to be a great refining process sifting through the Church and the heat of the furnace will ever increase in its intensity!
As the heat increases, the waste product rises to the surface and then the refiner removes it from His precious work.
The refining process is only complete when the Refiner can look into that which has been refined and see His perfect image reflected.
As Christ looks at you today, how clear is His reflection back to Him from you?