Sunday 9 Jun 2013

Sunday Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:51-58

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:58
58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Devotion:
It is a wonderful thing that we can know that we have an eternal life for our souls after our physical bodies die; but it is also a wonderful thing to look forward to that we may not have to die! We simply do not know when Christ is going to come back and take us all so we do not know whether we will have to face death or not – but even if we do have to face death, we are not beaten because we have life eternal to look forward to. Death has lost its sting…

But for those people who are always seeking earthly pleasure and earthly rewards, they will face that final day wanting more, wanting to know why, wanting, wanting… People who do not know Christ and who have not accepted all that Christ has done for us will have to face the truth and wonder why they never did anything about it. Just as we face consequences when we have not completed a task before a deadline, we too have to face the consequences when we have not accepted Christ as our Saviour. The only problem being that we normally see and know of deadlines as they approach in life, but we do not know when Christ may return.

The sting of death is that sin that separates us from God. Sin keeps us away from God and if we continue to live in our sin without ever accepting Christ as Saviour, then we will only ever have to face up to that sting when we die or when Christ returns. But if we accept all that Christ has done for us and believe in Him then we know that He has already taken that sting for us. A bee can only sting once and once that sting is used up, nobody else can be stung by that bee. Christ stepped forward and took that sting so that we will not be affected by it. But if we do not believe in Him we face the rest of those bees in the hive, all of which have a sting to remind us of what we have done!

We need to remain strong in the knowledge that Christ has paid for our sins and that we can move on forward right now. We do not have to break down and cry over what we have done any more. We do not have to worry that we will have to face Him and accept any punishment because He has paid for it. Any work we now do under that banner of belief and trust in Him is worth every ounce of strength we use. Let us move on, working effectively and faithfully.

Points to Ponder:
Do you know Christ as Saviour?

Are you working effectively for Him?