Sunday 16 March 2008

Sunday Reading: Ephesians 4:22-24
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 4:22
22  For you ought to put off the old man (according to your way of living before) who is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
 
Devotion:
How many of us will go and get changed when our clothes get dirty? How many will change when we get wet? How many will change if our clothes are torn? Unless we have good reason not to, all of us would at least wish to get changed out of the clothes that are damaged or spoiled and put on new clothes so we would feel more comfortable – that is leaving out modern trends for going round in “pre-torn” jeans! We like to be comfortable and “right”. Even as far as our houses… if they are damaged, then we would seek a place to stay where we will be comfortable and safe again. We don’t like to have to put up with things that we can change.
 
So why should our spiritual lives be any different to our physical lives? Why should we have to put up with the dirt and damaged spiritual things that we have in our lives? Why do we not turn away from them and turn towards something that is “right”… Well, just like the “pre-torn” jeans that we have in our lives, we see things that are not spiritual and think that they are in some way better than what we have. I mean, logically, torn jeans should be mended or thrown away because they no longer supply the protection that they were design for in the first place. But society has now deemed it “cool” to have jeans that look like they are older than us!
 
Just like a small child may find it difficult to change out of their dirty clothes, we will find it difficult to change out of our damaged or unclean spiritual lives. We need someone to help us to change. We need someone to point out when we are dirty because we may not think about the dirt because of all the fun we are having. Isn’t Satan wily! He continues to get us into situation where we will not see the damage we have done spiritually until it is too late. We need to keep Christ close to us so that He can help us to stay clean even when we are having fun!
 
Points to Ponder:
How many times a day do you change clothes?
 
How many times a day do you bring things to Christ?