Luke 3:7-9

Luke 3:7-9

Therefore he was saying to the crowd who came to be baptized by him, “Offspring of poisonous snakes!  Who made it known to you to flee from the wrath that is coming?  Therefore make fruit in line with repentance and you all should not begin to say in yourselves, ‘We have father Abraham.’  For I tell you that God is powerful enough out of these stones to raise up children for Abraham.  And already the ax is resting on the root of the tress.  Therefore every tree that does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

I’ve always been amazed by John.  He really doesn’t seem to care about the approval of the people around him.  He cares about proclaiming the truth regardless of whether the people around him like him or hate him.  After all, look at the recipients of John’s message.  John doesn’t just say “offspring of poisonous snakes” to the religious leaders, he says it to the ones who are coming out to be baptized!  This is an amazing place to live in life.  John must put his full trust in God, because he isn’t likely to have many friends among men!  He must believe that God is going to take complete care of him.  You don’t proclaim a message like this to the world around you without incredible faith in God.

Are you ever afraid of offending the people around you?  Why do human beings fear offending too many people?

Second Thought:

Look at thrust of John’s teaching after getting their attention by calling them offspring of poisonous vipers.  John makes sure that they understand that they shouldn’t even begin to rest upon their biological connection to Abraham.  John cautions them to not even begin there!  We cannot think that the righteousness of another human being is going to make us righteous.  It doesn’t work that way.  Just because I had faithful people in my family tree does not make me faithful!  No.  Salvation comes individually.

Do you ever think you are saved because the people around you seem to be saved?  Do you ever think you are good because you come from a good family?

Third Thought:

So what does matter?  Our fruit matters.  The product of our life matters.  What matters is if we repent and live out of that repentance.  What matters is that we each come to terms with the sinful nature within and then wrestle against it.  At the end of the day, what matters is whether I pursued my sinful nature or whether I faced my sinful nature and turned to God for guidance instead.

Are you bearing fruit in line with your repentance?  What does your fruit look like?  How do you repent?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 3:10-14