Daily Devotional for November 24, 2021
Riddles
“Hey, Kwan, how are you at math?” asked his sister Nari.
“Got an A on my report card,” Kwan answered with a smile.
“Then let’s see if you can figure out this riddle. Listen carefully, okay? A bus with ten people on it stopped and picked up five more. After going two blocks, it let off three people and picked up four. After going another block, it let off four passengers. It made one more stop and picked up two people.” Nari grinned. “Now tell me…how many times did the bus stop?”
“Fourteen!” Kwan shouted. Then his triumphant grin faded as he realized he had been fooled. “Hey! I thought you were going to ask how many people were on the bus at the end. I was keeping track of that in my head, but I don’t remember how many times the bus stopped.”
Nari laughed. “Gotcha!”
Mom grinned. “I have a riddle for both of you. Remember Pastor Green’s sermon at church last week?”
Kwan nodded. “He said many people believe a loving God would never send anyone to hell.”
“They say God loves everyone just as they are and that’s all that matters,” Nari added.
“Well, the riddle is…in what way are those people like Kwan?” asked Mom.
Nari thought it over. “Kwan only heard the numbers he was listening for. He didn’t pay attention to the rest of the story.”
“Right,” Mom said. “And people who say God won’t punish sin are not paying attention to everything the Bible says. They’re just hearing what they want to hear—picking out the parts of the Bible they like and ignoring everything else. It’s true that God loves everyone just as they are, but the Bible also says that our sin separates us from God. That’s why He sent His Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for our sin on the cross. He loves us so much He made a way for us to have eternal life with Him—and He helps us turn away from sin in our lives now.”
“So it’s not enough to say God loves us. We must take Him up on His offer to save us from sin,” Kwan observed.
“Right,” said Mom. “To truly know God’s love for us, we need to trust in Jesus.”
-Charles VanderMeer
How about you?
Do you pay attention to everything God says in His Word—or do you pick out only what you want to hear? Don’t be fooled by those who claim there’s no such thing as sin and that we can live however we want because God loves us. The Bible says God sent Jesus to rescue us from sin—that’s how much He loves us. Listen to the whole truth of God’s Word and put your trust in Jesus. (To learn more, click the “Good News!” button in the right column.)
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