No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Luke 16:13a

Although I don't have any solid statistics to substantiate my statement, I'm pretty sure there are very few car thieves reading the Daily Devotions.

Since you are not a car thief you may not know what car is the most stolen automobile in the United States. Would you care to take a guess? Cadillac? Mercedes? Corvette? Mustang? GTO?

It's none of those. The car that most often disappears from where the owner has placed it is the 1994 Honda Accord.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, last year more than 55,000 Accords were stolen.

Since you're not a car thief you might be curious as to why older Accords are disappearing with such frequency. According to those who know, the answers are pretty simple:

1. Older Accords don't have any anti-theft deterrent technology.
2. Older Accords have a lot of stuff that can be sold easily on the black market.
3. Owners of older Accords don't think anybody would steal them, so they don't lock them
and frequently they leave the keys inside.

This all adds up to one thing: older Accords are stolen more often because they're easier to steal.

If you think about that for a second you might conclude, as I have, that the devil works a lot like a car thief. He tries to steal the souls easiest to take.

And how does a soul become easy to steal? That's simple: don't search the Scriptures; don't go to the Lord in prayer; don't receive the Sacraments; don't make confession of your sin; don't receive the Lord's absolution; don't worship with others; don't use any of God's gifts, which are designed to keep His people from being taken to Satan's chop shop.

Our text for today is clear: somebody is going to own you. It is either going to be God or it is not.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, You are right; we cannot serve two masters. Please, send Your Holy Spirit so I may always belong to and serve You. Grant me the grace to be faithful -- faithful unto death so the crown of life might be mine. This I ask in Your Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 14-16    Ephesians 3

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