Scripture to Read: Luke 20:9-18
As we read Luke 20, we see in verse 16 that the owner of the vineyard puts the vine-growers to death because they killed his beloved son. The owner then gave his vineyard to other vine-growers. We know God is love, but God is also just, and God holds everyone accountable for their actions. We don’t like to think about God being just; we only like to focus on God being loving, forgiving, kind, full of grace and mercy, good, patient, and gentle. God is all of these things and so much more, and it’s only through our Lord Jesus Christ that we get to experience the fullness of God’s love, forgiveness, kindness, grace, mercy, goodness, patience, gentleness, and more. What we must never do is take our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ for granted. That is why God has told us that His greatest commandment is to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Loving God with all we are can only be done through a fully surrendered life to and through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we get focused on our wants, our needs, our feelings, our comfort, our circumstances, etc., we lose sight of what we have and who we are in Christ. We become self-centered, self-motivated, self-reliant, and selfish. The vine-growers, who represented the chief priests, scribes, and elders of Jesus’s day, had fallen into that trap of being focused on nothing but “self.” “Self,” our flesh, must be crucified daily to walk rightly with our King.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about Himself and about you?
2. How are you crucifying your flesh each day in order to love God with all you are and have?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!