This is the first devotional for the week of May 20 through May 24. This is a devotional from the Our Daily Bread website. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Three or four sentences would be good. Your comments give you devotion credit.
Divine Escape
"So from that day on they plotted to take his life."
John 11:53
John 11:53
Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot mystery The Clocks
features antagonists who commit a series of murders. Although their
initial plot targeted a single victim, they began taking more lives in
order to cover up the original crime. When confronted by Poirot,
a conspirator confessed, “It was only supposed to be the one murder.
Like the schemers in the story, the religious authorities formed a conspiracy of their own. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38–44), they called an emergency meeting and plotted to kill Him (vv. 45–53). But they didn’t stop there. After Jesus rose from the dead, the religious leaders spread lies about what happened at the grave (Matthew 28:12–15). Then they began a campaign to silence Jesus’s followers (Acts 7:57–8:3). What started as a religious plot against one man for the “greater good” of the nation became a web of lies, deceit, and multiple casualties.
Sin plunges us down a road that often has no end in sight, but God always provides a way of escape. When Caiaphas the high priest said, “It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50), he didn’t understand the profound truth of his words. The conspiracy of the religious leaders would help bring about the redemption of mankind.
Jesus saves us from sin’s vicious grip. Have you received the freedom He offers?
Like the schemers in the story, the religious authorities formed a conspiracy of their own. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38–44), they called an emergency meeting and plotted to kill Him (vv. 45–53). But they didn’t stop there. After Jesus rose from the dead, the religious leaders spread lies about what happened at the grave (Matthew 28:12–15). Then they began a campaign to silence Jesus’s followers (Acts 7:57–8:3). What started as a religious plot against one man for the “greater good” of the nation became a web of lies, deceit, and multiple casualties.
Sin plunges us down a road that often has no end in sight, but God always provides a way of escape. When Caiaphas the high priest said, “It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50), he didn’t understand the profound truth of his words. The conspiracy of the religious leaders would help bring about the redemption of mankind.
Jesus saves us from sin’s vicious grip. Have you received the freedom He offers?
Reflect & Pray
What
road are you going down that could take you further away from God?
He offers real freedom. What do you need to confess to Him today?
He offers real freedom. What do you need to confess to Him today?
Give sin room, and it can take over a life.
Checking in with God and our moral compass should be an ongoing thing. It is easy to just "go with the flow". Listening to others, to God and his wisdom lead us in the way we should go.
ReplyDeleteI wish that at times they were actual alarms ringing in our heads when we are headed in the wrong direction spiritually. If is so easy to take the path of least resistance and go with the flow of the culture in which one find one in. However, following Jesus requires at times a counter culture mindset and self discipline in thought, words, and deeds is ongoing pursuit and never stops while we are trapped in these mortal tents of ours.
ReplyDeleteVery enlightening devotion. One sin, one lie, one stretch of the truth leads to another and to another. It is so much easier to just tell the truth, to not hide things, and then to take the consequences. it is so important to teach our own children and our students this. And just to keep your mouth shut when you shouldn't be opening it!
ReplyDeleteThe blessing is that Jesus died on the cross for the one sin and the following sins that try to cover it up. It is hard to continually goes agains the grain/flow when the world's vision of life pushes so hard in the other direction. That is where your "village" or church family can spur you on to continue the marathon that is believing and living out your faith here on earth.
ReplyDeleteSIN. It's something of this world, because we are human we all sin. God continues to love on us and guide us even when we do sin, but through Christ when we have him in our lives he trys and pulls us out of sin. As humans when we have sinned in our lives we need to remember that God doesn't shun us, and push us away- he wants us to know He loves us always and unconditionally and we can always come home to Him. It's so nice to know how loved and adored we are and how much he will always be there for us.
ReplyDelete