All Live to Him

Daily Reading:  Luke 20

Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him. (Luke 20.38)

Devotional Thought: In Luke 20, Jesus is confronted by some who wish to discredit his ministry by pointing out perceived inconsistencies in his theology.  They pose a question about marriage in the resurrection, but that is just a front for their main disagreement about life after death.  As Jesus responds to them, he makes a statement about God that causes us to reflect on our lives: “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (Luke 20.38).

He is not the God of the dead.  We know, of course, that our Creator God is indeed the Lord of all and that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.  For those who do not acknowledge God, however, the practical result is that they remain dead in trespasses and sin.  They do not lay claim to God and may even disavow him.  In that sense God is not their God.

But there is good news: He is the God of the living!  When we make God our God, we become alive!  The Bible says that in Jesus is life and when we know Jesus we know life.  You have been made alive with Christ, and now you are serving the Creator and Sovereign of the universe.

To God all are alive.  He who dwells in eternity is your God!  The practical result of that is that you, too, connected to this eternal God, dwell in eternity.  He is alive forever.  And you are – not were, but are currently, without interruption – alive forever!  Though you are limited by time and space now, you will one day enter into eternity with God.  There and then you will never die.

Thank God for Jesus our life!

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, that I am alive in you.  Help me to live abundantly - with confidence, with peace, with joy, and with love for all those around me.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 143.7-12

7 Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge!

10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!

12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.