Thursday Reading: Ephesians 4:11-16
Key Verse: Ephesians 4:15
15 But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ;
Devotion:
We are not all apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors or teachers; indeed most of us are none of the above, but that does not mean that we are not useful as Christians. When you take a cross section of people from a town or village you will find that very few fall into the category of teachers but that would not stop us learning something from just about everyone that you meet. Each of us grown up and learn from our surroundings and carry that knowledge with us. When we meet others we can share knowledge with them and in doing so we learn more ourselves – so in truth we are all teachers of a kind.
Just what we are learning is going to be called into question! If we learned the wrong stuff for an exam or test then there is not much chance that we will pass with flying colours because we have not made the best of our learning time. If others try to learn from us and we start telling them of our life history instead of what they have asked, then we are not being any good to them. When I was at university and exams were coming up, the sun also came up (not a regular occurrence near Manchester!). That was enough to persuade some of us that cricket was the order of the day instead of revision; needless to say we did not learn as much as we could then!
We do have all manner of things that surround us and that will take us away from the things that we should be doing. That is just life. What we then do is our choice though. Whether we are going to give in and follow the ways of the world or continue on in God’s strength is our decision. God is going to continue to supply everything that we need in the right measure and at the right time – all we have to do is to take Him up on that offer. In order to continue growing in the best possible way we have to follow the best possible methods and not always the ones that we think look fun because everyone else does them.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get side-tracked easily?
Are you focusing on God?
