Isaiah 63:7 - I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that He has granted them according to His compassion, according to the abundance of His steadfast love.
Not so long ago, a man brought his boss home for dinner. Like people of authority can sometimes be, he was full of himself and not a little pretentious. The little boy of the household never having seen a man act in such a way, had difficulty tearing his eyes away from the boss. He stared at the man for almost the entire meal. Finally, the boss stopped and asked the fixated lad, "Young man, why do you keep looking at me like that?" The little boy shyly replied, "My daddy says you are a self-made man." The boss was pleased to hear this, glad that someone else had recognized what he had known about himself all along. He admitted that yes it was so; he was, indeed, a self-made man. Then the little boy asked quite innocently, "Sir, I was wondering, if you are a self-made man, why did you make yourself like this?"
Why, indeed? Why do we as individuals, as communities, as countries, as the global human family do the things that we do? Why have we made ourselves the way we are? Every nation hates war, but at this moment there are many wars. Every human being wants to live in peace and harmony, yet many households are torn apart by dissension and wracked by division. Why have we made ourselves the way we are? Why, after centuries of human struggling and striving for improvement, is every new year ushered in with a dollop of hope and a mountain of fearful uncertainty? Why are we the way we are? The answer is simple: because we are sinful.
Because we are sinful, because we cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, we need a Savior. Only Jesus, the sinless Son of God, can bring true and everlasting change to this world and to us. Christians who have Jesus as their Savior, who have looked into the Christmas cradle, who have seen Calvary's cross and the empty tomb of Resurrection Sunday rejoice that they have a God who can shake the world—who can conquer evil with good and dispel the deepest darkness.
In Jesus, our days, and our years, are made new. We can meet each dawn with the presence of the Savior. Pain and problems will come, but with the help of the Redeemer—who has carried all our worries and woes upon His broad shoulders—we can emerge victorious. So, come what may, like the prophet Nahum we can say, "The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him" (Nahum 1:7).
WE PRAY: Heavenly Father, convict me of my sin and lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
From "A Kind of God," a devotional message from Rev. Dr. Kenneth Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Reflection Questions:
1. If you could do it all over again, what would be one thing you'd change about who you are?
2. How does God give us relief from our sinful past?
3. What can you do now to address and adjust a personality trait you'd like to see become more godly?
Today's Bible Readings: Judges 16-18 Luke 15:11-32
To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"