February 1, 2025 Morning Devotional

Morning Devotion: Read Luke - Rejection is Common

Luke 7:29  And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 31  And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32  They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35  But wisdom is justified of all her children.

Jesus had given John the Baptist great accolades for John was the forerunner of Jesus as given by the prophet Isaiah 40:3-5. 

In verses 29 and 30 you will find that there were those who embraced repentance and those who did not. There where those who embraced the message of the Lord Jesus and those who did not. In that they “rejected the counsel of God against themselves.”

Let’s make this very clear, when you reject the message of the Lord Jesus Christ, you do so against yourself. It will not be my fault or anybody else’s fault when you end up in eternal hell. As I have always said, the choice is still yours.

God has revealed Himself to us in a host of different ways from creation to revelation of His word and through prophets, Apostles, preachers and teachers. Yet many reject the message “against themselves.” That is the description of our generation today.

Verse 31  “And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?”

Luke 7:32  They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35  But wisdom is justified of all her children.

The Lord approaches man in many different ways, there is piping and mirth yet no one has danced. There were messages of mourning and no one has wept.

God sent John the Baptist who preached having never taken part in their revelry and they reject him.

Then Jesus comes and eating and drinking and they accused Him of gluttony.

Some folks will always find an excuse to reject the truth, (an excuse is like a sausage, it is the skin of reason stuffed with a lie.) or they will find an accusation or some ostensible pretence not to trust the Lord even though God gives them every opportunity in a multitude of venues to be saved.

The sad part is that they reject the message “against themselves” in the face of God.

Those who embrace the message of repentance and salvation by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are those who are saved and blessed and on their way to heaven for all eternity. Praise the Lord.

God is speaking, are you listening?

The choice is still yours,

Pastor Cook