Author: Sodwana Bay

ANCHOR DEVOTIONAL – AN ACCOUNTABLE LOVE”He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.’” (Luke 19:26) The Parable of the Ten Minas has often left me scratching my head, feeling perhaps a bit like the disciples who frequently found Jesus’ stories puzzling. There is apparently a very real accounting coming for how we have stewarded the gifts God has given us. Those who have stewarded well will be given even more. Those who have stewarded poorly will be stripped of what little they have. It’s a sobering thought as we consider our own lives. What did the third servant do wrong? Doesn’t it seem that keeping the mina safe and sound, returning it exactly as it was given, is at the very least a conservative move? He even wrapped it in a cloth to keep it clean! This parable seems to convey that God not only takes very seriously the stewardship of what was given, but that He also has no place for the gift being “tucked away” rather than invested. Jesus repeatedly chides those of “little faith,” instructing them and us centuries later to not hide away our greatest gift: the good news of salvation. Proclaim it wherever you go! Source: Anchor Devotional – An Accountable Love Originally posted 2015-07-09 07:52:32.

ANCHOR DEVOTIONAL – AN EMPATHETIC LOVE “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” (John 11:33)   Jesus and Lazarus were good friends. Jesus must have been very sad at the thought of Lazarus’ death. But it does not appear to be the death of His friend that moved Jesus to tears. It was witnessing the sorrow of Lazarus’ sisters and friends. He could have snapped His fingers and raised Lazarus, instantly turning all of that sorrow into amazement and celebration. But He didn’t. Instead, He entered their pain, felt it along with them. One of the most famous verses in the Bible appears here. Verse 35, “Jesus wept”, is notable not only because of its brevity, but it also is enormously powerful because of what it conveys in just two words. Jesus empathetically feels what we feel. God sent Jesus to earth to reveal to mankind who He is. He is not a cold, uncaring, distant God. He is intimately knowledgeable of all our ways and feels our pain even more deeply than we do ourselves. Out of the agony of His heart over sin which separates us from Him, He laid down His life that we – His friends – might be raised again with Him! Source: Anchor Devotional – An Empathetic Love Originally posted 2015-07-07 17:11:30.