MyDevotions.today
Understanding God
His ways are not our ways up in heaven.
Jesus told the story of the rich man and the poor
beggar in Luke 16:19-31. The man chosen by God suffered greatly while the
man God rejected enjoyed wealth and riches. How
greatly different is God’s perspective from ours?
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in
purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every
day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,
full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to
be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores.”
In the end, they both died and the one who suffered
and was despised on earth ended up in Abraham’s
bosom but the rich and seemingly blessed man on
earth ended up in hell.
The lesson we can take from this story is that our
earthly state is not an indication of our eternal
destination. To us, it is illogical to see the man
‘blessed by God’ on earth end up in hell and the
man seemingly despised and ‘cursed’ on earth end
Jesus said in Luke 16:15b “What people think is
important is worth nothing to God.” (ERV)
Material blessings are not necessarily signs of God’s
approval. God is kind and will cause the rain to fall
upon the righteous as well as the unrighteous. God
could bless you today but destroy you tomorrow, it
is His prerogative as God.
Speaking of Jesus Peter says, He was “...rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious...”
(1 Peter 2:4)
So the reverse of Luke 16:15b is also true i.e. what
God considers precious men put no value on.
Devotion For January 1, 2018 by
Homer Slack