Friday 22 Jun 2012

Friday Reading: Matthew 18:32-35

Key Verse: Matthew 18:34
34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

Devotion:
It is probably not too often that we do take into account the wrath of our God but that is one thing that we should never forget. Our God is not only Holy but He is Just. That means that we cannot ever approach Him with sin for He is Holy; but it also means that if we are going to live in sin then we must not expect anything other than justice from our God. If we want to flaunt our sin in front of Him then we should expect to have to live up to the consequences of our actions.

God is not vengeful in that He will not seek out those who have sinned against Him in the past, so long as those have repented of their sins and asked for His forgiveness. You see, there are two sides to the justice of our God in that we should expect His wrath when we sin against Him but we should also expect His love and forgiveness when we seek it – that is His promise to us, that he will always love us and be willing to forgive when we ask for that forgiveness. That is the extent of His love!

Jesus wanted us to know that God is Just and that He will carry out those punishments if we are not willing to turn away from the sinful life. If we do turn away and try to walk with Him, then we can expect His total love and support. Now we shall never succeed in living a life without sin and we shall never be able to turn away from all temptations in our lives, but with Him by our side we are going to have a much better chance at being able to do more things right than without Him there with us.

God wants what is best for us and He wants to be able to share the best with us, but we must be the ones who are willing to allow Him to lead us and to guide us so that we know which way we should be headed with Him. We live in a world of sin so we don’t really know the right direction – too many distractions and temptations are in our paths for us to see clearly. But when we do trust Him for guidance and support, then we can see the road ahead and live more for Him instead of against Him. God’s justice is not something to be tested but rather something to be remembered and feared. When our bible says that we need to fear God, it is reminding us that we need to remember His wrath should we choose to try and go against Him. It should be a no-brainer!

Points to Ponder:
Do you get into trouble much?

How do you act in front of your Lord?