Monday 16 Jun 2014

June 16: Romans 14:11-13

Key Verse: Romans 14:12
So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Devotion:
What happens when we try to tell lies in front of people that all know the truth? We look pretty silly weaving our story when everybody else around us knows that it is all a lie! But that is what so many people are continually trying to do in front of God! They tell their own story to justify themselves in some way in front of God who actually does know everything!

When we do die, we are all going to face Christ and give an account of our lives when He asks us. No matter how good we think we have been or how much good work we have done, if we do not believe in Christ then we are going to be faced with a problem… how do we lie to the truth? It is no small matter that we will all have to face the truth and when we do we will know it as the truth and we will be on our knees.

It is amazing that Christ is willing to forgive each one of us if we do come to Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Saviour and ask Him to forgive us. It is also amazing that people will see this truth, acknowledge it and yet not extend it to others. God does teach us that we should be willing to forgive other people just as Christ is willing to forgive us, after all we have done more against Him than they have done against us. But this verse reminds us of the next step as it were… we must not put things in other people’s way that will cause them to stumble.

Christ is not talking about putting a brick or banana skin in front of someone; He is talking about the temptations and evil things we show off in front of others that will cause them to do something they should not be doing. This may be as simple as getting someone angry or it may be opening them up to a temptation they have been fighting for a long time. Or it could be the simple lie “don’t worry, nobody is watching!”

Points to Ponder:
Do you care for others?

How many people do you lie to daily?