Monday 27 May 2013

Monday Reading: Luke 3:4-8

Key Verse: Luke 3:6
6  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

Devotion:
When John the Baptist was preaching to the people, he was preparing the way for Jesus to come and explain the law and the scriptures fully. John knew that this was his lot in life and the disciples knew that this was the same event that was prophesied so many years ago by the prophet Isaiah. They knew that big changes were in the making with the Messiah being the one to come forward and heal the sick and bring the scriptures to life.

But the verse I have highlighted was that all flesh should see the salvation of God; that being Christ Himself. This is the very same Messiah that John was preparing the way for, the same Saviour that came forward for us and gave His life for us. To be a part of those people who were able to see Jesus walking amongst them would have been quite extraordinary; but we have this all written down now so that we can know it happened and that we can have absolute faith that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and the Messiah prophesied through the scriptures that were written so many years before He came to be with us in fleshly form.

But John was not going to sit back quietly and allow people to do their own things and corrupt the scriptures; instead he upheld the truth that God originally laid down and wanted everyone to know that. He called the religious people a generation of vipers! He saw the corruption that was coming in when people wanted to rule with fear and authority taking the exact Word of God and corrupting it for their own measures, giving them cause to lift themselves up instead of God, making position of authority that others would mistake for the Word of God.

Each of us needs to come forward and present ourselves as willing servants before God, willing to lay aside our worldly ways and wants and take on His will in our lives. God wants us to be honest and bring forward what we know it right. He does not want us to corrupt the Word so that we can gain from it but to bring forward the Word in all its glory so that God will get all the glory. We need to admit that we have done things wrong, put aside our selfish ways, openly admit those facts to God and depend on God for strength to continue on in His will – that is what He wants and what He will support us through!

Points to Ponder:
Are you honest with God?

Do you really have to see Him to believe Him?