The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “Leaving by Another Door" for Thursday, 12 February 2015 - Scripture: John 8:1-11

The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “Leaving by Another Door" for Thursday, 12 February 2015 - Scripture: John 8:1 1 but Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. 2 Then early the next morning he went to the temple. The people came to him, and he sat down[a] and started teaching them.
3 The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn’t her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. 4 Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband. 5 The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”
6 They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.
7 They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” 8 Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. 9 The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.
10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn’t there anyone left to accuse you?”
11 “No sir,” the woman answered.
Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”[b][Footnotes:
8.2 sat down: See the note at 6.3,4.
8.11 don’t sin anymore: Verses 1-11 are not in some manuscripts. In other manuscripts these verses are placed after 7.36 or after 21.25 or after Luke 21.38, with some differences in the text.]
Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”[John 8:7 (NIV)]
The costume party was enjoyed by all. Everyone, from the tiniest baby to the oldest grandfather, donned a disguise. There were games, food, and lots of fun. Toward the end of the evening, the organizer thanked everyone, especially those of us who had helped with the event. We waited to clean up as the boys and girls and their mums filed out in high spirits. The dads left by another door to return to their prison cells.
We volunteers are members of the local community; most of us are members of Christian churches. Sad to say, not all members of our local community approve of what we are doing. In fact, some are quite hostile toward the prisoners because of the wrong they have done. However, as the Bible reminds us, none of us is free from sin. Through Christ, we know that we have been forgiven, and we want to extend that love and acceptance to others. We hope and pray that we can help to convince the prisoners and their families of God’s love for them.
The Author: William Findlay (Glasgow, Scotland)
Thought for the Day: How can I share God’s love with others?
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to help other people in kind and non-judgmental ways. Amen.
Prayer focus: Children of those in prison
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