Lent: Journey According To LukeSample

IN THAT DAY

DEVOTION
There is an ancient Chinese saying: ‘one kind of rice nurtures a hundred kinds of men’. Gastronomy aside, the same can be said of the Church—and perhaps increasingly so. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus distinguishes two types of disciples marked by very different traits. Both feed from the same grain of faith, yet lead disparate lives characterized by dissimilar goals, values, and motives.

The first group pursues the will of God with reckless abandon and embraces poverty, hunger and insults for the sake of the gospel. Forsaking worldly comforts, these believers grieve over the lost generation. They live not for momentary delights, but have their sights on heaven--where ‘in that day’, their joy shall be eternal. Jesus identifies this group as the prophets, for they live by truth and faithfulness. The second group is driven by the present needs of life - striving for material riches, earthly comforts and popular approval. To this group, Jesus warns of a day when they will lose their rights to comforts and heavenly rewards, comparing them to the ‘false prophets’ who live according to worldly standards and skewed philosophies of life.

FOR REFLECTION
Which type of disciple are you? Are you striving for success in this present life or for the new world to come?
What are the things that hinder you from turning your life towards the kingly reign of God?

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, please give me your vision for this present life, one that you have prepared for me long before the creation of this world. Help me to clear away any hindrances, such that my life may bear witness to your truth. Amen.