Saturday Reading: 1 John 3:11-13
Key Verse: 1 John 3:13
13 Do not marvel, my brothers, if the world hates you.
Devotion:
Have you come across people that don’t like you just because you are a Christian? Have you come across anyone who did not like you because you did what was right? When we are faced with the choice of pleasing the world around us or pleasing God, the answer should be straightforward – put the world behind you and walk with God! But that is where we quite often have a problem as we grow in Christ. The evil one is going to try to trip you up as many times as possible so that you cannot build your house upon the Rock that is Christ. He will try to put temptations in your way. He will try to use your friends to work against you so that we will turn our backs on Christ rather than on Satan’s world.
Christ continued to remind us through His earthly ministry that we have to love one another and to make sure that we do not follow in Cain’s footsteps. Cain tried to lift up his works to God instead of giving back to God what God has given us first. If we want to do that then we should not lift up Christ... But if we do that, then we should expect the same treatment from God that Cain got. No. What God wants us to do is to lift up His Son whom He gave to us so that our sins should be forgiven. God wants us to praise Him in righteousness knowing that He is our true God.
Don’t be surprised when people around you turn their backs on you just because they don’t like what you have done. There are many people around us who are so focused on worldly goods and experiences that they will do almost anything to continue to have those things in their hands. If we come along and turn the light on exposing what they are doing wrong, don’t expect them to always be thankful for what you have done! We cannot love both God and the world. We need to make sure that God comes first in our lives and first in our ways. Loving others irrespective of what they do to us is one of Christ’s wishes for us. In those rules we must abide because He has already done so much for us. Christ has come to turn the light on in our dim world and He does not want us to hate Him because He has shown us up for the sinners that we are. He has done that because He loves us so!
Points to Ponder:
Have you been caught out lately?
Has Christ exposed your life?
