DAILY DEVOTIONAL – May 14, 2020
“Leave It“
Prayer: Almighty God, You are the beginning and the end, the first and the last. You have no rival and You have no equal. You are above and outside of time and space and all of creation, for you are the Creator of all things. We have nothing if we do not have Your love and forgiveness. Thank you, Lord, that You have made such sweet salvation possible in the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture: Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Devotional – “Leave it.”
On May 7, 2019, an Aeroflot plane, flight 1492, made a crash landing in Moscow that killed 41 of the passengers onboard. An article in USA Today reports:
The horrifying video from the scene shows the plane landing amid roaring flames with a trail of thick, black smoke. Moments later, passengers can be seen exiting from emergency slides, some staggering away from the plane with their carry-on bags.
One of the pilots told the Russian media that there was a “a bright flash and a bang” moments before the crew began an emergency descent. He added that communications with air traffic controllers was hindered by the apparent lightning strike…the crew had no option but to perform a manual landing and managed to establish radio contact for “a couple of words” to air traffic control personnel who guided them back to the runway. The jet struck the runway several times, likely damaging the fuel tanks and causing a fire to ignite in the rear of the fuselage, the pilot said.
As more information about the crash came out over the next several days, some very disturbing news was brought to light. According to the USA Today article, “Reports from people on the plane indicate the evacuation may have been slowed by passengers grabbing their bags. Videos show passengers taking their carry-on bags with them as they exited the plane.”
The Association of Flight Attendants said during a tribute service they held mourning the loss of the flight attendant onboard who was also killed, “We will never know if more lives could have been saved if the bags were left behind.”
What do you think you would have done if you survived this plane crash? Would you have tried to save your suitcase or carry-on from burning in a plane crash? Is there anything you own that you hold so tightly to that you would risk your life or the lives of others in order to try and take with you when evacuating in an emergency? Remember the story of Sodom and Gomorah? God sent His angels to destroy the city because of its wickedness, but the angels spared Lot and his wife telling them to leave everything behind and run to the hills without looking back. If they looked back, they would be consumed. Tragically, Lot’s wife couldn’t resist. She looked back and was consumed by the destruction. What do you think she looked back for?
Of course, we would all like to think we would leave any material possession behind to burn without a moment’s hesitation, especially if our life was at risk. But to deny that we share in the same temptation is to have already put ourselves at risk.
As I continued reading articles about the crash of flight 1492, I was surprised to learn that people risking not only their own lives but the lives of others in a desperate attempt to save their belongings after a plane crash, is not a new issue. In 2016 USA Today published articles warning about this increasing risk, providing detailed images of passengers fleeing and dragging their baggage behind them as they fled a plane crash. Since 2016, this has apparently happened in Shanghai, San Francisco, Las Vegas, New York, Dubai and other major travel destinations all the way through 2018, including the most recent crash in Moscow on May 7th.
Watching video footage of those passengers making an emergency exit, fleeing for their lives with carry-ons in hand is a graphic illustration of Jesus’ warning in our text from Luke 12. “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
In 1 Timothy 6:9-10 Paul teaches that greed can be a “snare,” plunging men into “ruin and destruction” that pierces them “with many griefs”. Paul says that we should “flee from these things”, not flee “with” these things. Much like the passengers scrambling to get their bags put the lives of others at risk, when we become consumed with possessions, place too much value or have too much of a focus on anything material, it is not just our soul and spirit that suffers, but those around us and closest to us.
Friends, there is nothing in this life that will endure forever and we can take nothing with us after we die. Everything expires, everything dies and especially in today’s world of technology, everything is outdated and superfluous within a month after you buying it. There is only one thing that lasts forever. Only one thing worth dying for and leaving everything else behind for. That is our relationship with Jesus Christ who died and rose again so that the true longing of our hearts and desires would be satisfied. Only the love and forgiveness and provision of God found in His Son Jesus gives us all that we need, even when we have nothing in this life.
The Good News of the Gospel is that God has already given us the wealth of heaven and the promise of eternity with Him by grace through faith in Jesus. God, His love and His Word is all that will endure to the end, and into life after death. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Thanks for spending time with me today in God’s Word, and remember that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
