ESOCS Devotional 31 August
TEXT: John 15: 1-33
MEMORY VERSE: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29
From the beginning of time, God had been in the business of advertising Jesus. The Omniscient God! He knew the world would need Him later. He knew the world would depend on Him. And so, He started much earlier to point the world to Jesus. It was like He was saying: See the Gift I have for you! See the One who is to carry the burden you brought on yourself! Look up to Him and be saved! You would never lose!
With the Lord Jesus, He prepared a route for our escape. With Jesus, He gave us a soft landing, whereas we deserved judgement and punishment. He gave Him as a free Gift to us all; even when we do not deserve such a precious Gift. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
In the Garden of Eden, God said to the Serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15). Moses said to the Israelites: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear” (Deut. 18:15). Earlier, God had said to Moses, “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in his mouth; and He shall speak to them all that I command Him” (Deut 18:18 ). Among other things, Isaiah 53:5 says: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Revelation 13:8 calls Him “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” He is the Soon Coming King! (Rev. 3:11; 22:20)
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
God loves us with passion. Everything He does is for our wellbeing and benefit. That was the reason He has been advertising Jesus everywhere. In the ancient times, He advertised Jesus through the prophets before He came into the world. Today, God advertises Him by the Holy Spirit. Why does God advertise Him? The answer is simple: that the world may know Him, acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour, and come to Him so that they might be saved from eternal destruction.
However, there are many people across the world that have not heard about Jesus. Many have heard but like the Ethiopian eunuch, they do not understand (Acts 8:26-40. We are therefore sent to advertize Jesus to such people. It is a command we need to fulfill. We should embark on it with zeal. Like God, let us develop passion for lost souls. That is what our Lord Jesus commanded us when he said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Let us embark on this assignment with great zeal. It has great reward!
CHALLENGES
- How many souls have you converted to Christ?
- Do you have passion for lost souls?
PRAYER POINT:
- Pray that God may use you mightily to win souls for Christ.
FURTHER READING:2 Samuel 7:1-14; 7: 15-29; Romans 1: 1-15; 1:16-32
Thank you for reading the ESOCS Devotional today. Please share and follow us on all our platforms to contribute to the spread of the Gospel.
ESOCS Devotional 31st August
