Wednesday 22 Feb 2012

Wednesday Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:23-24

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:23
23  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Devotion:
There are many things in our lives that upset other people because of what they believe or believe in. That does not give us the right, as Christians, to go out and terrorise the world with our ways just because we think they are doing things wrong and they think they are right in our own eyes! Yes I know that is a bit harsh but we really do need to see things from other people’s points of view now and again. God wants us to know the truth and He has given us His Word so that we may study the truth and part of that truth is that we need to take in the needs of others.

That certainly does not mean that we roll over and give in to everything that others bring into our lives – God still wants us to separate ourselves from this world because He knows that we will give in at the wrong times and that we will end up working against Him. But being able to see why others are doing the things they do or being able to see what we do that will offend others will go a long way towards us being accepted by others and allow us to draw closer to them. If we are not able to draw close to them then we will not get the opportunity to reach out to them in Christian love.

There-in lies a bit of a dilemma for us because as soon as we start to see what others are up to we start to cave in just a little bit more and start to think that those sins may not be so bad after all! Well guess what. A sin is a sin! So if you want to be able to reach out to others then you had better be prepared to build up your strength and then make doubly sure that Christ goes out in front of you!

As soon as we do step out of the door we will be open to temptations and Satan is going to make sure that we get more than our fair share just so that he can try to trip us up in front of Christ. If we start to look at the world around us we will start to wonder what it would be like to have a little bit of that world – just as Eve and Adam were drawn in by the evil one, we too will fall into his trap before we know it. So making sure that we do have Christ with us whenever we go out into the world has got to be the first thing we think about. If God had never taken into account the needs that we have, He would never have come to the cross to give His life for us; where would we then be without that love that He showed us first of all?

Points to Ponder:
Are you being selfish?

Do you know how much love Christ showed you before you knew Him?