Christian Devotional – September 25, 2023

The Savior Comes, Day 23

What do we want for ourselves? Read Matthew chapter 23.

When we think about our goals for ourselves and the types of things that we are trying to attain, what are we seeking? So often, especially for so many people that Jesus talks about in this chapter, the goal was power and esteem and to be thought well of by other people. Jesus explains that if those are the types of things that you are seeking after, you are going to miss them. If you are seeking after authority and esteem and to be thought well of, then you will end up being humbled. If you are seeking humility and desiring to put others ahead of yourself, then you will be exalted.

Jesus doesn’t make a distinction on exactly when the results will happen. Many times we think that they should be immediate. If we have been humble, then we should immediately be exalted. However, God may end up being thinking about this from an eternal standpoint. Eternally, we will be rewarded for the way in which we act here. So, if we are being humble and seeking to put others first, God will see and reward that in his timing. We are not to seek to be exalted on our own, but to exalt others.

What is our focus today? Are we exalting others around us? Or, are we trying to exalt ourselves?