the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Matthew 19:1-26
At the beginning of this chapter, the Lord Jesus replies to a question put by the Pharisees, in which He again positively condemns divorce (Matthew 5:31-32).
Then He blesses the little children who are brought to Him and reproves the disciples who would want to turn them away. Do we bring young souls to the Lord in prayer? Or are we, on the contrary, among those who want to prevent them from coming?
In v. 16 we see a young man coming to the Lord Jesus with this excellent wish: to obtain eternal life. Only the question was badly phrased and the Lord wants to make His visitor aware of this. "You want to do something good? Well! there are the commandments!" The young man’s answer shows that he was unaware of his condition as a lost sinner, or of his inability to do anything good for God. Then the Lord shows him that there is an idol living in his heart. It is his riches, an obstacle which prevents so many people from coming to Christ and following Him! No, eternal life is not obtained by doing good. Neither the most amiable temperament nor the greatest natural talent help in any way to merit it . . . because it is not something which can be earned. It is a free gift, which the Lord Jesus gives to those who follow Him (John 10:28).
