Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour In Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Free Ride" Tuesday, 30 June 2015

Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour In Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Free Ride" Tuesday, 30 June 2015 

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15
During the Great Depression, through the dark Days of World War II, and the confusing years of Vietnam, Americans always believed -- and were ready to make sacrifices which would guarantee -- their children would be more financially secure, more content and happier than they.
Unfortunately, that dream seems to have gone by the wayside. In September of last year, a Public Broadcasting poll came up with two discouraging statements:
1. Nearly half of Americans who once believed in the American dream (defined as the belief that if you work hard, you'll get ahead) think it no longer exists.
2. Close to half of all Americans over 18 think the next generation is going to have a harder time financially than they.
Some company leaders, wishing to reverse those negative statistics and give their employees a positive outlook for themselves and their children, are trying to make a difference. One of those leaders is Chieh Huang, CEO of the company called Boxed. Out of his own personal funds, Mr. Huang is providing college education for the children of his employees. Tenure at the company isn't important, the kids get to pick their school and they get a free ride.
I probably don't have to tell you that present employees are elated, and the number of people applying for employment at the Boxed company has increased dramatically. That is as it should be. Anytime somebody pays to give you a free ride you ought to be grateful.
Sadly, that is not the way it is in the spiritual realm.
You see, from God's perspective, the eternal future of sinful humankind was bleak. The next generation's prospects were no better than ours. All in all, things were hopeless. That was when the Triune God stepped in and decided to make a change.
Knowing we were helpless to pull ourselves out of the condemnation and damnation our sins deserved, the Lord sent His Son into this world. Here Jesus carried our sins, and died the death which had been our destiny. Now all who are given faith in Jesus as their Redeemer are given a free ride into heaven.
And what is the world's reaction to this wonderful gift?
When Jesus walked the earth, many of the people around Him reacted negatively. Some were jealous, others were fearful, and incredibly few recognized Him and the soul-saving work He was doing.
Thankfully, there are those people like you who know that when someone gives you a free ride, especially a free ride into heaven, you ought to be eternally grateful.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, You gave Your life so my present and eternal circumstance might be changed. May my gratitude for Your sacrifice be evident and infectious to those around me. This I ask in Your Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than perfumed oil,

and the day of death better than the day of birth.

2 Better to go to a house of mourning

than to go to a house of feasting,

for all are destined to be mourned;

the living should lay this to heart.

3 Grief is better than laughter,

for sadness can improve a person.

4 The thoughts of the wise are in the house of mourning,

but the thoughts of fools are in the house of pleasure.

5 It is better to hear the rebukes of the wise

than to listen to the songs of fools.

6 For the laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns

burning under a pot; this too is pointless.

7 But oppression can make a wise man stupid;

also a gift can destroy understanding.

8 The end of something is better than its beginning,

so the patient are better than the proud.

9 Don’t be quick to get angry,

for [only] fools nurse anger.

10 Don’t ask why the old days were better than now,

because that is a foolish question.

11 Wisdom is good, along with possessions,

an advantage to all who see the sun.

12 For wisdom is a shelter,

and money is a shelter,

but the advantage of knowledge is

that wisdom keeps the one who has it alive.

13 Consider the work of God:

who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 When things are going well, enjoy yourself;

but when things are going badly, consider

that God made the one alongside the other,

so that people would learn nothing of their futures.

15 In my pointless life, I’ve seen everything —

from the righteous person perishing in his uprightness

to the wicked one who lives a long life

and keeps on doing wrong.

16 So don’t be overly righteous or overly wise;

why should you disappoint yourself?

17 But don’t be overly wicked, and don’t be foolish;

why should you die before your time?

18 Don’t grasp just one of these rules;

take hold of the other as well;

for he who is in fear of God

will live by both of them.

19 To a wise man wisdom is better protection

than ten rulers in a city.

20 For there isn’t a righteous person on earth

who does [only] good and never sins.

21 Also, don’t take seriously every word spoken,

such as when you hear your servant speaking badly of you;

22 because often, as you yourself know,

you have spoken badly of others.

23 All this I have put to the test of wisdom;

I said, “I will acquire wisdom”;

but wisdom remained far away from me.

24 That which exists is far away

and deep, so deep, that it can’t be discovered.

25 So I turned myself and my thoughts to know, search out and seek wisdom and the reasons behind things, also to know how foolish it is to be wicked and how stupid to act like a fool.

26 I found more bitter than death

the woman who is a trap,

whose heart is a snare

and whose hands are like prison chains.

The man who pleases God will escape from her,

but the sinner will be caught by her.

27 I have found this — says Kohelet —

adding one thing to another to reach a conclusion,

28 I searched a long time without finding it:

one man in a thousand I have found,

but a woman among all those I have not found.

29 This is the only thing I have found,

that God made human beings upright,

but they have devised many schemes.

8:1 Who can be compared with a wise person?

Who else knows what a thing means?

Wisdom lights up the face

and softens a grim appearance.

2 Keep the king’s command

because of the oath before God.

3 Don’t be quick to leave his presence,

and don’t persist in doing what is wrong,

for he does whatever he pleases.

4 After all, his word is final;

who can challenge him, “Why are you doing that?”

5 Whoever obeys his command

will never come to harm,

and the wise person will know

the right time and judgment.

6 For to everything there is

a right time and a judgment,

since people are greatly troubled

7 by uncertainty over the future;

even when the event takes place,

who will tell them about it?

8 Just as no one has the power

to keep the wind from blowing,

so no one has power

over the day of death.

If one is drafted to fight a war,

one can’t send a substitute;

likewise the wicked won’t escape death

by their wickedness.

9 All this I have seen, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun when one person tyrannizes another. 10 Thus I saw the wicked buried; they had even come from the Holy Place. But those who had acted uprightly were forgotten in the city. This too is a futile thing; 11 because the punishment decreed for an evil act is not promptly carried out; therefore people who plan to do evil are strengthened in their intentions. 12 For a sinner can do evil a hundred times and still live a long life; although I know that in the end things will go well with those who fear God, because they fear him. 13 But things will not go well with the wicked; and, like a shadow, he will not prolong his days; because he doesn’t fear God.

14 There is something frustrating that occurs on earth, namely, that there are righteous people to whom things happen as if they were doing wicked deeds; and, again, there are wicked people to whom things happen as if they were doing righteous deeds. I say that this too is pointless.

15 So I recommend enjoyment — a person can do nothing better under the sun than eat, drink and enjoy himself; this is what should accompany him as he does his work for as long as God gives him to live under the sun.

16 When I applied myself to gain wisdom and to observe how people occupy themselves on earth, that people’s eyes don’t see sleep either by day or by night, 17 then, on looking over all of God’s work, I realized that it is impossible to grasp all the activity taking place under the sun; because even if a person works hard at searching it out, he won’t grasp it; and even if a wise person thinks he knows it, he still won’t be able to grasp it.

9:1 I applied myself to all of this, sifted through it and concluded that the righteous and the wise, along with their deeds, are in God’s hands — a person cannot know whether these people and deeds will be rewarded with love or with hatred; all options are open. 2 Anything can happen to anyone; the same thing can happen to the righteous as to the wicked, to the good and clean and to the unclean, to someone who offers a sacrifice and to someone who doesn’t offer a sacrifice; it is the same for a good person as for a sinner, for someone who takes an oath rashly as for someone who fears to take an oath. 3 This is another evil among all those done under the sun, that the same events can occur to anyone. Truly, the human mind is full of evil; and as long as people live, folly is in their hearts; after which they go to be with the dead. 4 For as long as a person is linked with the living, there is hope — better to be a living dog than a dead lion! 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; there is no longer any reward for them, because all memory of them is lost. 6 What they loved, what they hated and what they envied all disappeared long ago, and they no longer have a share in anything done under the sun.

7 So go, eat your bread with joy,

and drink your wine with a happy heart,

for God has already accepted your deeds.

8 Let your clothing always be white,

and never fail to perfume your head.

9 Enjoy life with the wife you have loved throughout your meaningless life that he has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for that is your allotted portion in life and in your labor that you work at under the sun. 10 Whatever task comes your way to do, do it with all your strength; because in Sh’ol, where you will go, there is neither working nor planning, neither knowledge nor wisdom.

11 Yet another thing I observed under the sun is that races aren’t won by the swift or battles by the strong, and that food doesn’t go to the wise or wealth to the intelligent or favor to the experts; rather, time and chance rule them all. 12 For people don’t know when their time will come any more than fish taken in the fatal net or birds caught in a snare; similarly, people are snared at an unfortunate time, when suddenly it falls on them.

13 Here is something else I have seen as wisdom under the sun, and it seemed important to me: 14 there was a small town with few people in it; and a great king came to attack it; he surrounded it and built massive siege-works against it. 15 Now there was found in it a man who was poor but wise, and by his wisdom he saved the city; yet afterwards, nobody remembered that poor man. 16 So, although I say that wisdom is better than strength, nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised; nobody pays attention to what he says.

17 A wise man speaking quietly is more worth heeding

than the shouts of a ruler commanding fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but a person who makes a mistake can destroy much good.

Acts 10:1 There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Regiment. 2 He was a devout man, a “God-fearer,” as was his whole household; he gave generously to help the Jewish poor and prayed regularly to God. 3 One afternoon around three o’clock he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!” 4 Cornelius stared at the angel, terrified. “What is it, sir?” he asked. “Your prayers,” replied the angel, “and your acts of charity have gone up into God’s presence, so that he has you on his mind. 5 Now send some men to Yafo to bring back a man named Shim‘on, also called Kefa. 6 He’s staying with Shim‘on the leather-tanner, who has a house by the sea.” 7 As the angel that had spoken to him went away, Cornelius called two of his household slaves and one of his military aides, who was a godly man; 8 he explained everything to them and sent them to Yafo.

9 The next day about noon, while they were still on their way and approaching the city, Kefa went up onto the roof of the house to pray. 10 He began to feel hungry and wanted something to eat; but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance 11 in which he saw heaven opened, and something that looked like a large sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling creatures and wild birds. 13 Then a voice came to him, “Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!” 14 But Kefa said, “No, sir! Absolutely not! I have never eaten food that was unclean or treif.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up into heaven.

17 Kefa was still puzzling over the meaning of the vision he had seen, when the men Cornelius had sent, having inquired for Shim‘on’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask if the Shim‘on known as Kefa was staying there. 19 While Kefa’s mind was still on the vision, the Spirit said, “Three men are looking for you. 20 Get up, go downstairs, and have no misgivings about going with them, because I myself have sent them.”

21 So Kefa went down and said to the men, “You were looking for me? Here I am. What brings you here?” 22 They answered, “Cornelius. He’s a Roman army officer, an upright man and a God-fearer, a man highly regarded by the whole Jewish nation; and he was told by a holy angel to have you come to his house and listen to what you have to say.” 23 So Kefa invited them to be his guests.

The next day, he got up and went with them, accompanied by some of the brothers from Yafo;

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