"When
the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit
on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will
separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats."
Matthew 25:31-32
Do you know who you are?
Maybe not. To the government you are a Social Security
number. In your family you play different roles, to your boss and business
you're an asset or a liability.
Most of us wear many hats.
That was certainly the situation around the year 1910.
According to the story given me, a man was waiting for the New York subway when
he was bumped and found himself falling onto the rails. His death was prevented
only by the quick grasp of another passenger.
The calendar advances four years. It's now 1914 and
the passenger who was saved has been rightly arrested and convicted for a
capital offense. Even so, his demeanor throughout the trial could be described
as being nothing less than blasé.
His cavalier attitude was the result of him having
recognized the judge. It was the same man who had saved him at the subway. All
of the lawbreaker's bravado evaporated when the convicted heard the judge give
him the maximum sentence.
"But judge", the man said, "don't you remember me? I'm
the man you saved at the subway."
With some sadness, the judge replied, "I do remember
you, and I remember how I saved you that day. But what have I saved you for? So
you could go on sinning, stealing and murdering? Yes, I remember and I'm sorry
the action was wasted. At any rate," the judge continued, "that day I was your
savior; today I am your judge."
Recently I have encountered a whole group of people
who maintain a loving Lord would never, ever send someone to hell.
Now it is true God doesn't want anyone to go to hell,
and He has provided a way to make sure everyone can avoid that nasty place, even
so that doesn't mean we can ignore the fact that salvation is completely
dependent upon our believing on God's Son as our Savior.
And that means believing while He is our Savior and
not our Judge.
Now, of course, you know that, but maybe you know
somebody who could afford to hear that Bible-based truth once again. If so, why
not forward this devo to them.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for my salvation won upon
Calvary's cross, I am indebted to You. May I embrace and ever hold fast to my
Savior. But I also pray for the many who think they can rewrite the plan of
salvation. May they remember that Jesus the Savior is also Jesus the Judge. In
His Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries
http://www.lhm.org/
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