Devotional thoughts for Thursday

Thursday 9. October 2014

Trinity 16 

Jesus said to His apostles: "So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10,32-33) 

Jesus has drawn the line in the sand, and we cannot hem and haw around it. There is only one way to salvation, and Jesus says He is that Way. 

This does not sit well in our twenty-first politically correct Western culture. We uphold the value of pluralism and tolerance. Jesus is not pluralistic nor tolerant when it comes to salvation. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14,6). 

The gospel that the Church preaches is a gospel that offends many people. The gospel tells us that we cannot earn our way into heaven. The gospel tells us that we cannot mix and match religions and create our own saving religion. The gospel tells us that we can't just pay lip service to Jesus. The reign of God goes through Christ, and there is no getting around Him. Those who believe in Jesus are saved, but those who refuse to believe in Him are condemned. 

This seems harsh, but it is God's love for us. He has done everything to save and redeem us. He sent His own Son to accomplish that, and He gives us salvation as a free gift. We receive it by faith in His Son. Salvation is won. Heaven is open. Eternal life is ours. All of this is through Christ Jesus our Savior. 

Prayer: O Lord God, Heavenly Father, You promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations, You led him to the land of Canaan, and You sealed Your covenant with him by the shedding of blood. May we see in Jesus, the Seed of Abraham, the promise of the new testament of Your Holy Church, sealed with Jesus' blood on the cross and given to us now in the cup of the new testament; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. (1097, Treasury of Daily Prayer)