Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Sabbath, May 5, 2018

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-05-05-2018

This is devotional thought number 19 in our devotional series titled, “The Gospel According to Paul.”

“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.” (Romans 14:7–13).
“I’ve got no heaven or hell to put you in.” Have you ever heard that before? Have you ever said it? It conveys the stark, and perhaps comforting reality that Jesus is the Judge of all the world and not faulty human beings. It’s comforting because we are fickle, limited in our awareness of others’ reality, except whatever they may convey to us; and we cannot give what we are aware of the appropriate context, especially not to the level of being a judge. Besides, sinful human beings are way out of our depth as eternal judges. Our collective and individual sin predicament positions us in the only safe place we can occupy, in this context, humbled at the feet of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately, some of us get it twisted. We somehow forget that we are sinners who also need the Savior. And thus we ascend our throne-like high horses and pass imperfect judgment, which reflects back to us and we end up subjecting ourselves to the unjust outcomes we’ve levied on others. The truth is that we live and die in the sight of, and according to the sovereignty of God, or Creator. The blessing in this is not some neck wagging potshot that we take at our false accusers and faulty judges. No. It’s actually that since our Creator loved us so much He gave us His perfect Son who would live according to truth and die in our behalf. All those who trust in Jesus’ life, death, and ministry for us will be saved. An outgrowth of this transformational faith is that we never put anything we do, say, or neglect to do in the way of our fellow believers. We choose to step aside, and through our conduct and love, we make way for them to experience Christ firsthand. We decrease so He will increase in people’s consciousness. We let God be God and we worship Him, while encouraging others to do the same.

The gospel of Jesus Christ humbles us. His power awes us. His love transforms us. His patience makes us patient. His mercy makes us merciful. Ultimately, all that makes God, God, makes us humble servants who wish nothing more than for as many people as possible to be saved.

I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, are you?.—L. David Harris (www.LDavidHarris.com)