Wednesday 7, 2022

September 7: Luke 6:20-26

Key Verse: Luke 6:23
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Devotion:
Jesus’ words here where both an encouragement and a warning; and encouragement reminding the disciples what was in store for them in Heaven, and a warning to all who would turn their backs on God because they would not be in a good place! God wants us all to be able to receive blessings and not have to face His wrath!

It is our choice as to whether we face the blessings or the woe. If we choose to include Christ in our lives and to keep Him close, then we should expect to see and receive the blessings Jesus is talking about here. We can see this throughout history as the people of Israel received blessings when they walked with God, but we also see the opposite side of the story when they walked away from God because the world over ran them and their lives were filled with woe.

Any suffering we endure here on earth is going to be nothing in comparison to the joy we will have in Heaven. We have Jesus’ words to remind us of the things which can go wrong – the parables which foretell of disasters or hard times. We also have parables which tell of the blessings and joy of the people when they continued to walk with God.

If we aim for personal wealth or favour during our life on earth, are we not asking for earthly recognition instead of Heavenly recognition? When we strive for earthly comforts, that will be our reward – earthly comforts. But if we strive to serve God we can expect worldly opposition to what we do and hence earthly discomforts; but our Heavenly rewards will be so much more than we can imagine!

Points to Ponder:
Do you seek earthly recognition?

Will you humble yourself before God and serve Him?