May 9 Daily Devotional

Questions we must answer ...

Do you see how essentially different [the Christian] is from the non-Christian? The vital questions which we therefore ask ourselves are these. Do we belong to this kingdom? Are we ruled by Christ? Is He our King and our Lord? Are we mani­festing these qualities in our daily lives? Is it our ambition to do so? Do we see that this is what we are meant to be? Are we truly blessed? Are we happy? Have we been filled? Have we got peace?

I ask, as we [consider the Beatitudes], what do we find ourselves to be? It is only the man who is like that who is truly happy, the man who is truly blessed. It is a simple ques­tion. My immediate reaction to these Beatitudes proclaims exactly what I am. If I feel they are harsh and hard, if I feel that they are against the grain and depict a character and type of life which I dislike, I am afraid it just means I am not a Christian. If I do not want to be like this, I must be "dead in trespasses and sins"; I can never have received new life.

But if I feel that I am unworthy and yet I want to be like that, well, however unworthy I may be, if this is my desire and my ambi­tion, there must be new life in me. I must be a child of God. I must be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and of God's dear Son.

Let every man examine himself (1 Corinthians 11:28)

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, i, p. 41

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“Text reproduced from ‘A First Book of Daily Readings’ by Martyn Lloyd-Jones, published by Epworth Press 1970 & 1977 © Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes. Used with permission.”

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