Saturday 1 Dec 2012

Saturday Reading: Matthew 25:35-40

Key Verse: Matthew 25:40
40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Devotion:
The one thing that we can be very sure of is that we are going to be accountable for the things that we have done. God is just and will uphold the righteous, but with that also comes the judgement of the unjust people – a side of God that we try to ignore sometimes because it does not suit us to think of it. We must never forget that God is Holy which means that He cannot abide sin and will not allow sin into His house. That does not mean that we will never make it there because we are already covered by what Christ has done for us.

But when we choose to go forward in our own deceitful ways, ignoring or rejecting God and His ways, then we shall have to be prepared to face up to the consequences for what we have done. It is only if we come to Christ with a humble and repentant heart asking for forgiveness that He will forgive us; and at that point He will separate us from that sin so that we may enter in.

Then there are many who would like to believe that because they cannot see God, God is not watching them. How can God be Just and Holy if He is not going to keep up those attributes – and that means being Just and Holy always, even when we think He is not here. God may be a silent presence, but He is present. But God is not seeking people to prove themselves worthy to Him by being as good as they can toward Him.

Just because God is everywhere and is all powerful, does not mean that He does not want us to do things for Him; and neither does it mean that there is nothing we can do for Him. Instead we need to take a fresh look at this and think a bit outside the box. God does want us to praise Him and worship Him in everything that we do. It may not be that we sing His praises before a congregation. It may not be that we teach others constantly from His Word; it may simply be that He would like us to help someone in need to allow them to see that God is everywhere and that He reaches out to everyone in so many different ways. When we reach out to others, we also reach out to God because we are all His to begin with.

Points to Ponder:
What have you done for God lately?

What have you done for others lately?