Psalm of the Day: Psalm 42
Proverb of the Day: Proverbs 24:23-34
Scripture Reading: Luke 4:23-32
We learn how bitterly human nature dislikes the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. We see this in the conduct of the Jews of Nazareth when our Lord reminded them that God was under no obligation to work miracles among them. Were there not many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah? No doubt there were. Yet to none of them was the prophet sent. All were passed over in favor of a GENTILE widow at Zarephath. Were there not many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha? No doubt there were. Yet to none of them was the privilege of healing granted. Naaman the SYRIAN was the only one who was cleansed. Such doctrine as this was intolerable to the Jews of Nazareth. It wounded their pride and self-conceit. It taught them that God was no man's debtor, and that if they themselves were passed over in the distribution of His mercies they had no right to find fault. They could not bear His teaching. They were "filled with rage!" They thrust our Lord out of their city and had it not been for an exercise of miraculous power on His part, they would doubtless have put Him to a violent death by hurling Him off the cliff! Of all the doctrines of the Bible, none is so offensive to human nature as the doctrine of God's sovereignty. Let us settle it in our minds that, whether we like it or not, the sovereignty of God is a doctrine clearly revealed in the Bible, and a fact clearly to be seen in the world. Upon no other principle can we ever explain why some members of a family are converted and others live and die in sin; why some quarters of the earth are enlightened by Christianity and others remain buried in heathenism. One account alone can be given of all this. All is ordered by the sovereign hand of God! Let us pray for humility in respect of this deep teaching. Let us never doubt that at the last day the whole world shall be convinced, that He who now "gives no account of His matters" has done all things well!
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, help me to humbly submit to your awesome sovereignty.
Action Plan: Evaluate the areas of my life that I am the most rebellious against God's sovereignty.
This devotional was taken from The Gospel of Luke by J.C. Ryle published in 1858
and adapted by Pastor Tim Lewis of New England Shores Baptist Church.
