Tricking God: One Year Bible Reading for April 21

 Today we read from the One Year Bible in these verses:

Joshua 22:21-23:16
Luke 20:27-47
Psalm 89:14-37
Proverbs 13:17-19

Let's look at Luke. The local teachers of the law come to Jesus. They don't believe that there is life after death, like many people today. They try to trick Jesus by asking Him a complicated question about a woman who is married to seven men who all die one after the other. Who will she be married to in heaven? You can almost see their smug grins as they sit back and wait for Him to fumble around in their trap. Clearly none of THEM could answer this question, or they wouldn't have used it to try to trap Him.

But, being God, Jesus easily answers their question by teaching ALL of us that we are not married or given in marriage in heaven. That's probably a huge relief to many people who were "given in marriage" to people they hated, who went on to abuse them for the rest of their lives. THEN Jesus turns around and proves beyond doubt that there IS life after death, using the very Scriptures that they hold dear. 

Lessons learned: don't try to trick God. We are not married or given in marriage in heaven. (Don't worry! That doesn't mean your relationship with your spouse is going to be less than it is now. The fact is, your relationship with EVERYONE will be far closer, more profound, and more intimate than your relationship with your spouse is now!) And we will, in fact, live forever.

God, thanks for not being tricked.