Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Ezra 6-10
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Luke 12:58-59
Jesus: Imagine you’re being sued. You and your accuser are on your way to court. Wouldn’t you do everything in your power to settle out of court before you stand before the magistrate? After all, he might drag you to stand before the judge, and the judge might hand you over to the police, and they might throw you in jail. Once you’re in jail, it’s too late: you’re not going anywhere until you’ve paid in full.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Early in my military career, we had a nearly a million soldier on active duty just after Viet Nam and a lot of those soldier were draftees that didn’t want to be in the Army and some were sent there instead of to jail. Consequently, we had correctional barracks on most of the installations to take care of some of the less that stellar troops that committed crimes on the installation. The correctional barracks are long gone from most of the installations now. That’s a good thing. But one of the advantages of having those facilities on the post was that you could arrange a visit every once in a while for a salvageable, but wayward young soldier.
I knew several of the officers who worked in or with the correction barracks facility and when I had a soldier that lost his way, I would ask one of my Military Police friends to give that wayward soldier and inside visit of the barracks. This wasn’t a prison, so the conditions were much better, with more privileges than the military prison system, but a young soldier’s eyes were opened pretty quickly when they suddenly found themselves going through the doors with an MP in handcuffs and standing on the wrong side of that yellow line.
When the iron gate closed behind them and suddenly they found themselves cut off from the world with fencing topped with razor wire and the barracks filled with real criminals, that hour or two that the MP spent taking them through the facility letting them know the rules of how they would live for the next six months or two years or six years, depending on the infractions that were building up, felt like an eternity. I’d watch their eyes grow to the size of saucers. Seldom did those soldiers leave that facility without understanding life would not be the same if they didn’t change their ways.
Most of the soldiers I sent for a visit to the barracks for an hour or two turned around and became good soldiers. They straightened up and understood that the Army had rules for a reason. A couple of them even became Sergeants Major, the highest enlisted rank in the Army. Most thanked me later in their career for giving them the opportunity to visit the barracks instead of taking the formal actions I could have taken to send them there or to prison on a more permanent basis.
Jesus’ words today, reminded me of those times in my early career. Isn’t it better to negotiate with people and fix things than to watch them explode in front of you? Isn’t it better to build relationships rather than tear them apart? Of course, the best action is never to get yourself into a position to be sued or charged in the first place. Obey the law. Do what’s right. Love your neighbor. Pray for those that injure or abuse you. Love your enemy. Those are the things Jesus told us to do.
When we do the right thing, we will seldom find ourselves on the wrong side of the law or sitting in the defendant’s seat in court. We will seldom find ourselves facing a judge for doing things that run against the civil laws of the land. Most people will be surprised at our kindness and love for others, but we will seldom be dragged into court for kindness, gentleness, goodness, self-control, those fruit of the spirit that grows in the spirit-filled believer.
What should we be dragged into court for? Going to church and declaring Jesus as Lord. With the state of the world moving in the direction it is moving, it might not be long before that happens. But if it does, if we are dragged before authorities for declaring that Jesus is the Son of the living God. If we face prosecution for declaring that only by believing that Jesus died for our sins can we gain eternal life and forgiveness for our sins. If we face punishment for our faith. Then Jesus says God spirit will put the words we need in our mouth so we do not need to worry about what to say or what to do when we face the judge.
Whatever else someone might call us into court for account we should be careful. Do the right thing. Obey the laws of the land. Be a good citizen while on this journey of life. Build good relationships so that others can know you are a child of God and a citizen of another kingdom. Then proclaim your citizenship and how to get your name on those immigration papers found in the book of life.
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