DEVOTIONAL Header2023

Exclusion

January 3, 2023
01032023WEEKLYDEVOS

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20, NIV).

Last Saturday in Durres we held our last small group sessions. The Albanian minister had clearly delivered the gospel. At our table 10 young healthcare students were asked their thoughts. Most were agnostic with cultural backgrounds in Islam or Orthodox Christianity. The major sticking point for them was the unfairness of God to exclude good people who sought Him through other religions. A loving God would not be so exclusive.

In 1925, Tom Lee was maneuvering his 28-foot boat up the Mississippi River when he watched the swift current catch and capsize the steamboat, M.E. Norman, with 55 passengers aboard. Though he could not swim himself, Tom Lee made five trips to fill his boat with drowning passengers and saved 32 lives, quitting only when darkness made it impossible to continue. He is a true African American hero, with a riverside park dedicated to him in Memphis, Tennessee.

No one would ever accuse Tom Lee of excluding the remaining 23 passengers he could not find. And yet, people do that with God.

God sends none of us to death or hell. We are all drowning in our own imperfections and rebellion against our Creator. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God” (Romans 3:10b, ESV).

The story of the cross is not the story of a vindictive God sending folks to their death because He is angry at our imperfections, but the story of a God who is constantly reaching out to us as we drown in a river of our own choosing. The only ones who are lost are those who refuse to reach for His nail-scarred hand. The exclusiveness of our faith comes not from God’s decision, but from ours. He holds out the hand of Jesus the Christ to save all who are drowning in sin. We are the ones who choose to be excluded if we refuse to take His hand.

Dear Father,
Thank you for reaching out to all. Let me reach for others with you.
Amen

Click Here to Read Past Weekly Devotionals >>

pexels-rdne-6149192
Weekly Devotions

Making Smiles

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34, NKJV).   He was an ordinary man ...
pexels-bertellifotografia-573258
Weekly Devotions

When Our Children Suffer

“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children” (Psalm 103:17, NIV).   ...
pexels
Weekly Devotions

A Window That Isn’t There

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in ...
Weekly Devotions

A Child’s Question

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13, NIV).   One of my colleagues ...
Weekly Devotions

Hospice Mallards

“Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you ...
Weekly Devotions

Level

“Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but ...
Promises
Weekly Devotions

Some About Me

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of ...
Weekly Devotions

Droopy Lids

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, ESV).   Lately, multiple people have asked me if I was tired. I ...