Thursday Reading: Acts 16:6-10
Key Verse: Acts 16:10
10 And after he saw the vision, we immediately tried to go into Macedonia, gathering that the Lord had called us in order to preach the gospel to them.
Devotion:
Paul was a man who was doing everything against God that He could until God spoke to him. From that moment on he realised that God was in charge and that where God wanted him to go, he should be going. Sometimes that was not where he thought he should be going as in this short passage; but when God spoke, he listened!
Sometimes it is hard for us to listen to who is in charge because we like to get into doing our own things. Sometimes it is hard to change our ways of doing things when God asks us because we are so used to doing things our way and are so comfortable in doing things our own way that we are ‘far too settled’ to do anything about it. Being satisfied in what Christ has for us is a big thing for Christians, but being too satisfied in what we already have and not looking for what God has in store for us is not a good thing.
We need to take a leaf out of Paul’s book and be ready to listen to God no matter what He has in store for us. Is it going to take Him to confront us on the road like it did Paul before we listen, or are we going to set ourselves apart from the world and listen to what He has in store for us? If we continue to envelope ourselves in the things of this world then we may well miss out on what God has to say to us and we may well miss out on what is in store for us. God wants us to continue growing with Him day by day and not to get too comfortable in our own ideals. Paul certainly had to put up with a lot, but he did so because God wanted him there… How else would we know such things if someone else had not already been through this in our stead? Do we really want God to have to go through this with every Christian in person just so that we will do His will? I hope not!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to those in charge?
What do you expect God to do to get you moving?