Devotion for Tuesday, August 20, 2024

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

Have you noticed how the wicked will not stop until they get what they want?  The violent force themselves upon you.  The Lord does not.  The Lord can do all things, but the Lord does not coerce.  The wicked ones do.  Let this reality set in on you.  Be at peace, live in peace, and do not do things by force, fraud or theft.  Sin reigns in the world, but in, by and through Christ, sin does not reign in you.

Why does God allow some things?  That’s what the wicked would ask us when it is the wicked who are doing those sinful things.  The Lord allows you and me to exist even though we are sinners.  The answer is in what the Lord is doing.  He is making of those who believe children who do not practice wickedness.  It is what it is in this world and age, but the final answer is in Christ who, on the cross, made the way out of wickedness possible.

Lord Jesus, you speak truth.  I sometimes have a hard time with the truth.  The closer I walk with You, the more I see the pattern of wickedness in this world.  Help me, I pray, to not just see, but to believe and walk with You as You remove the wickedness from me.  Make me one who is at peace and move me far from the wickedness of this age.  Guide me today and each day in Your grace, dear Savior.  Amen.