Daily Devotion September 16

September 16: Luke 16:19-31

KJV Key Verse: Luke 16:26
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot * ; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Devotion:

I am one of those people that put things off for as long as possible; I do try to improve things each day, and it is only with God's help and encouragement that I can succeed at this task. But one things that we must not put off is sharing God's Word. This passage warns us of putting things off. It warns us of what will be in store for us if we keep saying no. It warns us of the consequences of saying “I'll do it tomorrow”. One day, that tomorrow will be today, and then when you put it off for another day, it will be too late.

I don't know whether we will be able to see between heaven and hell as it is told here, but for those who do not make it to heaven it is going to be a very long night knowing the morning will never be coming again. I think the torment of knowing you have made the wrong decision is going to be bad enough without having to spend eternity in hell (making no decision is in fact making a decision not to make that decision...)

God wanted us to know His mercy. He sent Jesus, His son, to die on the cross for us all. Jesus wanted us to know His mercy. He gave up His life on that cross for us. Day by day we are shown mercy and grace through all God allows in our lives; if we are willing to share this with others, they will get to learn before it is too late. God wants us to extend our mercy to others so they can learn about Him through our actions.

The Hebrew word for mercy means to cover up or to wipe out in a permanent sense. If we would take on the true meaning of mercy and share it like Christ wants us to we will be able to save a lot of people from being on the wrong side of the gulf between Heaven and hell.

Points to Ponder:
Do you show true mercy?

God’s mercy extends to every living soul!