Dear Precious Friends,
I pray you are waking up to this day filled with joy in the Lord as we count down to Christmas and take in Chapter 18 in our Chapter of Luke a day challenge.
Luke starts the chapter reminding us of the parable of the persistent widow. To persist in prayer and not give up means keeping our requests continually before God as we live for Him ay by day, believing He will answer. When we live by faith, we never give up knowing God will answer!
I will focus today on the most important question we all must answer in verse 18...
Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: "Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?"
— Luke 18:18 NLT
Can we think of a more important question than this? I can think of several that are equally important, but they all ultimately come down to the same basic issue: Am I living for God with all that I am, have, and do? Jesus' description of the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) reminds each of us of the importance of using who we are and what God has given us to bless others who are in need. So, rather than focusing just on eternal life, we each should ask ourselves, "Am I living for God in a way that life forever with Him will be the result?" So, are we? Are we confident in that life with Christ forever? God wants us to be (Ephesians 1:13-14). Now, whether the religious leader's motives were pure is really not relevant to our asking the same question. The religious leader relied on his wealth which made his life comfortable and gave him power and prestige. When Jesus told him to sell everything he owned, Jesus was touching the very basis of his security and identity. The man did not understand that he would be even more secure if he followed Jesus than he was with all his wealth. So when we ask this question, are we truly living for God in a way that life forever with Him will be our result...? We can ask it from a pure and undefiled heart, seeking to honor and glorify God. When we do, we can know where we stand and with whom we stand.
Father, We long to be with you — to know you, to be able to see you face-to-face and to honor you, glorify you and praise you. You have blessed us so abundantly with your grace. You paid the price for our sins at an incredible cost to yourself. We long, dear Father, to live for you and then stand before your throne and tell you through eternity how magnificent and precious you are to us. We pray our security in this world is in you and our eternity with you. InJesus' mighty name, we praise and honor you and ask that you show us where in our lives we aren't putting you above all in our lives. We love you Lord Jesus, Almighty God. Amen.
