envelop spinner search close plus arrow-right arrow-left facebook twitter

The Upside Down World, Week 9, Day 4

by David Joynt on November 08, 2017


LUKE 15:18-20


One invited guest says he has bought land and must go and see it— but no one buys land without first inspecting it! A second invitee claims he must try out a team of oxen he has purchased—but even a completely foolish farmer has to make sure a team of oxen can pull together prior to making an offer. A third claims to have “just married,” but no one forgets their wedding date and books a party during the honeymoon. These excuses are so patently ridiculous, they must hide something else. Anger at the one who issues the invitation? A desire to hurt the giver of the party? Many excuses for rejecting God are equally unreasonable.


Have you ever allowed anger with God to keep you away from His community?


What changed your attitude?



FAMILY TIME— What should we do when we feel angry at God? Find a Psalm where the author is “praying his anger.”

Tags: excuses

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

More from Pastor Joynts Devotionals

return to Pastor Joynts Devotionals