Friday 20 Apr 2012

Friday Reading: Isaiah 65:1-5

Key Verse: Isaiah 65:1
1  I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

Devotion:
One of the most amazing things that I find is the diversity of people that we meet that are Christians. If we were to look toward the things that we think Christians should do and then look to people that fit into those roles we would actually come up with a different set of people to those that are actually Christians. God has called us all to His high calling and not just those that fit the description of what a Christian should be like. If it were that way then we would surely be able to live right in order to reach heaven. Instead God brings all sorts of different people into His flock.

Some of the vilest people we can think of may turn their lives over to God and beg for His forgiveness. And yet some of the sweetest people we know will reject God because they think that they are good enough without Him in their lives. How sad it will be to see those people being rejected by the very God that they once thought they were good enough to meet! God picked the people of Israel for a reason and He has continued to keep them and to protect them over time. Even when He has had to bring reproof into their lives He has done so with a loving heart.

God continues to call out to all people of this world to make sure that we all get the same chance at attaining eternal life through Jesus Christ. He continues to make us aware of what we do and aware of what it is that He requires from us. We do not have to belong to the Jews or to any other group in order to be able to accept Him as Lord and Saviour. God has opened His love to all men.

As we grow in our relationship with Him we begin to see just how open our God is to our ways because of the vast differences in our lives in comparison to other Christians. We continues to be amazed that He was willing to do all of that for us even while we were doing all those things wrong. He continues to wait patiently as we destroy so much that He has built up for us. We are the ones who think we know best and run off to do our own things. We are the ones who continually demand more from Him without giving more from our hearts. We are the ones who continually do things wrong in His face. We are the ones who are effectively slapping Him in the face daily and yet we expect Him to ignore that all and love us the way that we are!

Points to Ponder:
Do you expect people to accept you the way you are?

Are you willing to allow God to change you?