Psalm of the Day: Psalm 93
Wisdom of the Day: Job 15:1-17
Scripture Reading: Luke 7:36-50
Forgiveness, must go before sanctification. We shall do nothing until we are reconciled to God. This is the first step in religion. We must work from life and not for life. Our best works before we are justified, are little better than splendid sins. We must live by faith in the Son of God, and then, and not until then, we shall walk in His ways. The heart which has experienced the pardoning love of Christ is the heart which loves Christ, and strives to glorify Him.
Let us leave the passage with a deep sense of our Lord Jesus Christ's amazing mercy and compassion to the chief of sinners. Let us see in his kindness to the woman of whom we have been reading as an encouragement to any one, however wicked he may be, to come to Him for pardon and forgiveness. That word of His shall never be broken, "The one who comes unto me, I will never cast out." Never, never need any one despair of salvation — if he will only come to Christ.
Let us ask ourselves, in conclusion: What are we doing for Christ's glory? What kind of lives are we living? What proof are we making of our love to Him who first loved us, and died for our sins? These are serious questions. If we cannot answer them satisfactorily, we may well doubt whether we are forgiven. The hope of forgiveness, which is not accompanied by love in the life, is the hope of a hypocrite, which ends only in wrath. The man whose sins are really cleansed away will always show by his ways that he loves the Savior who cleansed them.
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, please help me to live for your glory.
Action Plan: What are we doing for Christ's glory? What kind of lives are we living? What proof are we making of our love to Him who first loved us, and died for our sins?
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.
