Friday 28 Sep 2012

Friday Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:6-10

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:8
8  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

Devotion:
We know that God gave us His Son so that we could have eternal life, but what we may not always remember so well is that God gave us His Son so that we could be strengthened to walk with His every day. We certainly do not need to be perfect as Christ was to be able to do things for God; Christ has made sure that we can do things for Him through everything He achieved whilst here as a human. He may remind us that we are sinners and He may point out the things in our lives that should not be there – but He still wants to use us!

You do not have to look much furthers than to many poor places in the world to get a perfect example of this. People will not go to the shop to buy a brand new container to fetch water in from the well; instead they use whatever container they have to hand, something that is ready to be used. God does not expect us to be perfect from the shop because He has already seen us used and abused. Instead He wants us to realise that we are useful and that we can be used of Him. The best chance that we have of being used by Him is if we are willing to stay in a reasonable state so that we can be used.

As long as a container is clean on the inside it can be used quite safely to carry clean water. Because Christ has already shouldered the sin debt for us, we can be clean on the inside if we ask Him to cleanse us. When we ask for that forgiveness, He is more than willing and able to cleanse us from all of our sin, making us clean and hence useful once again. Never be distracted by the dirt of this world because it is not permanent when we have Christ on our side.

No matter how much the world will throw at us we shall be able to stand on God’s Word and fully rely on God. No matter how many people will persecute us or step on us, we can be sure that Christ has a firm grip on us and will never let us go. No matter how much dirt the world will lower on us, it is Christ who cleans us on the inside so that we can continue to be used effectively by Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about your worth?

Do you realise that Christ chose you?