Luke 19:10

March 7, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)

What a beautiful purpose statement: to seek and save the lost. That’s what Jesus did for me.

The context of this statement is the story of Zacchaeus, the diminutive tax collector. The shock, possibly scandal of a tax collector being forgiven of his sins, precipitated this declaration.

I can imagine that onlookers had the spirit that tax collectors were beyond salvation. The reason I can imagine that is that it is what I still do. This hard spot in my heart is revealed at moments I don’t expect; just like it was last week. I was subbing in a class at a “difficult” school. When I entered, two boys were huddled on the floor near the Chromebook cabinet with their devices tethered to the charging cords.

These kids were dirty, had bad haircuts, dressed in tattered clothes, and were out of place. I consider myself pretty good at interacting with kids from all backgrounds, but God helped me see that there is still some work to be done in my heart.

As the day progressed, I had several interactions with one of the boys; the other was out of the class most of the day for behavioral counseling or academic help. I had repeatedly corrected my one friend who was struggling to stay on task. He kept talking with the kids near his new workstation. He kept switching tabs on his device to look at dragons. He couldn’t find the required paragraph to complete his assignment. It was one thing, then another.

Finally, enough was enough. I told him he had to return to his desk, which was in a pod with other kids. He didn’t want to be with them, and they didn’t want to be with him. He figured out a compromise, and the next thing I knew, he was sitting at a table with me.

Again, I think I am objectively good at interacting with kids from every economic, social, and ethnic background. But the critical spirit can hide undetected deep in the heart. After he sat down beside me, he seemed to lock in on his work. I noticed how unbelievably dirty he was. Head to toe. Finger tip to finger tip. I recalled about 10 minutes earlier when he sneezed a big blob of goo on his hand, then discreetly ate it. Even while having a pleasant conversation with him, my mind was making note of all the things “wrong” with him.

I stopped chatting with him because he was locked in on his work, and I wanted him to stay locked in. He couldn’t abide the silence, though, and started humming, then softly singing “Jesus loves me, He who died, / Heaven’s gate to open wide. / He will wash away my sin, / Let His little child come in.”

Admittedly (and to my shame!), I was surprised such a “troubled” kid would know that song. I asked, “Where do you know that song from?” He answered matter-of-factly, “church.” “You go to church?” I asked with shock, but carefully spoken so as not to reveal the judgmental spirit that had just surfaced from a dark spot in my heart.

He eventually told me he goes to Freeway Church, which is a ministry that I love, love, love! I have had several students from Freeway, and they were always among my best, most dedicated students. Freeway is a ministry for folks who have been incarcerated and/or struggle with addiction. And this kid, singing Jesus Loves Me, was a fruit of Freeway. Hallelujah!

In the very best way and with the greatest respect, I describe Freeway as a bit of an old-fashioned, hard-preaching, repent and be saved ministry. They offer tremendous community for walking through life post-incarceration and post-addiction or on the way to post-addiction. And they believe “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I must have been red-faced as I realized the judgmental spirit that I had toward that kid. I must have been like those folks around Zacchaeus, thinking he was too far gone.

Father, thank you for rescuing sinners, me included, regardless of the package they come in. Please forgive me for focusing so intently on the external package of this particular kid and for letting me hear those glorious words “Jesus Loves Me.” Thank you for this lesson. Please help me genuinely learn from it.

Filed Under: conversion, devotional thoughts, forgiveness, heart matters, humility, Jesus Said, Life in Christ, Luke, New Testament

Luke 18:31-34

March 6, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” (Luke 18:31-34)

Here, Jesus was very clear about what is coming. He gave step-by-step details all the way to the resurrection. BUT the disciples “understood none of these things.”

From my seat, it seems easy to criticize the disciples’ shock at the death of Jesus, and more particularly at their disbelief or surprise in Jesus’ resurrection. However, Luke adds this explanation: “This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”

I’m not sure why the Lord would go this direction. But it is similar to what he did with the two guys on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection: “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” (‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭16‬)

In both cases, the Lord, for his purposes, is keeping them from understanding on the moment. Perhaps, he wanted them to reflect back for clarity while going through the trauma of his death, so that they would find both comfort and meaning in his resurrection.

One thing I see here is to be careful in judging the slowness of people in understanding the things of God. Sometimes the slowness is due to hardness of the heart. At other times, it is due to the Lord shielding the truth from them until a later time.

Father, please help me to be patient with and slow to judge others about their slowness off belief. Help me to faithfully offer your grace to all. Amen.

Filed Under: Death, devotional thoughts, humility, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament

Luke 17:3-4

March 5, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-4)

This passage is one that is easy to understand the meaning, but challenging to obey. Let’s see what I mean.

  1. If your brother sins [against you, in Greek], rebuke him. Clear.
  2. If he repents, forgive him. Clear.
  3. If he sins against you SEVEN times in a day, and repents seven times, forgive him. Clear.

The requirement is clear. But the multiplication factor of seven makes this requirement difficult to obey. Some may feel like a sucker if they forgive the same person seven times in a day. Others may feel like the repentant person is not really repentant when the multiplication factor is added. I can hear myself say, “After all, if he were really repentant, he wouldn’t keep doing it.”

Interestingly, Jesus didn’t offer those thought experiments as options. He said, “Forgive them.” But what if they are not serious? Jesus didn’t go there. He just said, “Forgive.”

Once, I get. Twice, maybe. Three times, possibly. Four times, not a chance. Nope.

When Peter asked how many times he should forgive, Jesus said, “Seventy times seven” (Mt 18:21-22). Yikes!

How could he demand we forgive a sinner like that? The one sentence I have not yet mentioned is the first sentence of this passage. Jesus first said, “Pay attention to yourselves!” His priority seems not to be for me to determine how much of a sinner the other guy is or how repentant he is. Rather, he wants me to focus on my own heart. He wants me, a sinner who has been forgiven MUCH, to offer forgiveness to others.

Additionally, it makes sense that he wants me to pay attention to the fact that I am not sinning against others. I suspect that if I am focused on my own heart, I will not be so focused on another’s sin.

I saw this played out in my fifth-grade classroom recently. A girl who was actively breaking at least three classroom rules stopped what she was doing to tell on another kid. I asked her why she was “snitching” on him. Without hesitation, she said, “Because he is not supposed to do that!” The irony was thick. Really thick. I said, “But look at yourself. Are you supposed to be doing _______, _______, or _______?” In a brief moment of self-consideration, she quietly said, “No.” Her self-reflection lasted about one second before she said, “But he’s not supposed to do that!”

I can’t throw stones at her because I don’t like to pay attention to myself either. I prefer to count how many times someone else sinned or measure the sincerity of their repentance. But Jesus said, “Pay attention to yourself.” He also said, “Forgive.”

Father, please help me pay attention to my own heart, and please help me grow a forgiving heart. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, forgiveness, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament

Luke 16:31

March 4, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

In this verse, Jesus reveals something about the nature of God’s word and something about the nature of fallen man.

In the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, the rich man requested that Lazarus be sent from the dead to witness to his brothers. In this request, though well-intended, the rich man revealed that he knew nothing about spiritual things. He thought that a fantastic event (ie, a visit from the dead) would turn his brothers’ hearts to God.

However, in the parable, Jesus had Abraham reply that the man’s brothers have already disregarded Moses and the prophets. In other words, that which the Holy Spirit uses to draw men to himself had been dismissed. Paul said it this way, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of God.”
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭17‬)

Paul told the Corinthians, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬)

Unfortunately, a lost man tends to set the requirements by which he will believe. “If you do this or that, I will believe.” If we examine those demands, we will see that they require something other than God’s word. We must be careful not to fall prey to the idea that we can draw people’s hearts to God without his word.

Father, help me not seek to serve you through worldly wisdom. Help me to give greater attention to your word and use it more regularly in my daily witness. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament

Luke 15:7

March 3, 2026 by Leave a Comment

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

This chapter focuses on lost things: a sheep, a coin, and a son. Our selected verse is the conclusion of the lost sheep story. But the lost coin story has an almost identical concluding line: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (15‬:‭10‬) And the focus of the story of the lost son is the recovery of the one son: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.” (15‬:‭32‬)

In the story of the sheep, the punchline seems surprising – the recovery of one wayward sheep compared to the 99 obedient sheep – but Jesus is revealing heaven’s priority on repentance. As is often the case, the heavenly view is different than the earthly view. The point isn’t that obedience does not matter; it is that Jesus places a high priority on restoring what is lost, especially the restoration of sinners.

The use of a lost sheep and a lost coin is strategic and likely a common experience for his listeners. These items were used to draw the listener’s heart to his point. To wit, don’t give up on the person who has walked away.

This point is made even clearer in the final story as Jesus contrasts the father and the “obedient” son. While the father’s heart longingly looked for the son to be found (return), the “obedient” son was focused on himself and how he had not behaved as the wayward son had. In that juxtaposition, Jesus revealed his heart for the repentant sinner.

Notice that in all three storylines, the seeker rejoiced in the recovery of the lost item. Only in the final story of the lost son was there anything but rejoicing, and that grumbling was done by the one who perceived himself as being without blemish… particularly in contrast to the wayward son.

This detail is instructive for me because I can easily focus on my own perceived obedience rather than rejoice that a sinner has come home. I can grumble about how stupid he was to run down the wrong path or to disregard the truth that had been presented to him by his family. Worse, I could suggest he deserved the scars he got as a result of his sin. And all of that would be self-righteous hypocrisy. When a sinner comes home, my heart should rejoice in the Lord’s kindness to pursue and to receive that sinner, just as he did for me!

Father, please forgive me for ever thinking about myself rather than praising you when I hear of a sinner coming home. Please help me praise your kindness in restoring any sinner, especially me. Amen.

Filed Under: devotional thoughts, Jesus Said, Luke, New Testament, Parables
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