Advent Devotion - Day 11

Join us through this special time of Advent as we dive deeper into the Word of God. Each day, we will pray and reflect on a different passage from Scripture. Daily Readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, and reflections are written by our church staff.

New every morning is your love, great God of light, and all day long you are working for good in the world.

Stir up in us desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors, and to devote each day to your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Amen.

Presbyterian Worship Book

Matthew 12:33-37 (NIV)

³³ “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. ³⁴ You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ³⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶ But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. ³⁷ For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

I have always found Scriptures like these hard to read. It is hard to read about God’s judgment. It is hard to see God as both the God who is perfect love, as well as the God who is our ultimate judge. Jesus’ words from the account of Matthew tell us that every person will one day have to give account for their actions. Are we ready for that? If you had to be truthful, you would probably say, “No.” I know that is what my answer would be. But the good news from this passage and the hope that we find is through God’s patience. Scripture tells us that, because of our sin, we deserve death. But how great is it that God is patient with us and allows us the time and space to repent and live into His calling for our lives? We are given time to produce good fruit on this earth. We are given time to make disciples. We are given time to worship our God and fall more and more in love with Him daily. As we prepare our hearts in this season of Advent, may we begin to recognize God’s patience in our lives, and how this is good news for us every single day.