Daily Devotional

I prepared lunch for Lynn today; I also brought home prepared things for dinner. It was the third day of VBS, and I knew she would come home tired. She loves the kids and their energy, but also gets worn out. Part of her ambiance at lunch was music. I played the Eagles’ “Hotel California.”

It is not declared to be a reference of hell to come, or the pathway to there on earth, though the song begins with that question. Henley’s description of the Hotel and its guests squares with the Bible’s declaration about the fate of all humans outside of Christ. Consider . . .

• Such a lovely face welcomes them, such a lovely place!
• There is always plenty of room in that hotel!
• All the guests are living it up in Hotel California!
• The place is programmed to receive.
• You can check in, but you can never leave!
• They are all there only as prisoners of their own device!
• In the master’s chambers they try to kill the beast, but cannot

Such seems the situation of some unsaved neighbors of ours. They declare they are happy, and that life is good. They seem like ordinary, normal healthy people. We like them. But it is never the whole picture. Solomon describes the truth of the human heart and life on earth.

Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. Ecclesiastes 9:3b, NASB

The true fate of lost humans is a horror beyond description. But we seldom see people like that, headed to such a doom. They seem lovely, living it up, yet death and Hades will claim their lives in anguish forever!

But there is such good news! We have been given the ministry of reconciliation! (2 Cor. 5:18). With it comes all the power of God in the Holy Spirit in our lives. The message we have been given is stupendous! It was declared to the shepherds at Christ’s birth as “Good News of Great Joy!” It has been fashioned for ALL people. A Savior has been prepared for “you,” for any and every soul who recognizes their true state, and wants one. God is drawing all mankind to His Son. Those who receive Him not will have finally said “No” to God countless times before the end.

But we are never alone in this ministry of desire to see our loved ones, neighbors and friends saved. In Exodus 33, God told Moses that He would go with His people. We are like that, too. We have found grace. We have been separated out by God. It is His work. We are merely His vessels. He knows our name. He has shown us His glory.

We yield, and He works! It is not ours to “save” people. We cast the seed, and He opens hearts.
We experience His love, rescue and blessing, and we share our great joy with others!
We tell them about the “Light,” and Jesus takes their hand.
We pray for people, and we watch God’s power open their hearts and minds to His truth.
We declare our freedom from slavery to sin, and He opens their prison doors.

I got saved by reading a book by the pen of a Dave. I received the book by the hand of another Dave. But the Son of David, Jesus, met me on that lonely weekend in 1976 as July turned to August. My whole life changed in one weekend.

We get to be the “Daves” of our day. Part of our job to be able to do that is to prepare ourselves like Ezra, who “set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statures and ordinances in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10, NASB). Then we draw near to Christ. He draws near to us. He fills our hearts with the “word” of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:19). We are moved to give it to others. Lives are changed forever! Let us press on to finish the work in this era that the Lord Christ has given each one of us to do!

Read: Ecclesiastes 9:1-6, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20, Luke 2:1-20, 1 Timothy 2:1-8.
Sing: Never Alone, Anonymous; And Can it Be That I Should Gain, Charles Wesley (Thomas Campbell)

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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