Wednesday 11 Sep 2013

Wednesday Reading: 1 Peter 2:1-3

Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:1
1  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Devotion:
When we come to know Christ and accept Him as our Saviour He gives us the opportunity to turn away from all of our sinful and lustful ways so that we may be able to grow daily with Him. If we continue in our sinful ways, sinful thoughts and deceitful ideas then we will be crowding the Holy Spirit out of our hearts. Just because He is with us and indwells us does not mean that we can no longer hurt Him or disobey Him!

We are still those same sinful people who continue to battle against our sinful ways. God is trying to encourage us every step of the way to walk in His ways and unless we are willing to put aside our old ways He is going to be talking against your shouting! If you wanted to be able to tell a room full of people about the Gospel you would not be trying to do so if the room was full of people shouting at each other because you would not be heard above the din. Instead you would prefer to have a room of people that are listening!

The Holy Spirit is facing that sort of choice with us daily if we do not turn from our old ways. The din we create inside of us as we struggle with our sinful ways must surely drown out everything as God patiently waits on us to calm down! Once we start to calm down and start to seek the new life with Christ He will be able to teach us a whole lot quicker! Just as a young child will learn quicker if they listen to their teacher, we need to be calm and listen to our new Teacher as He brings us the truth of the Gospel directly into our hearts.

As teachers we may have to battle against all manner of uproar in modern society, but it is us that have created this uproar by allowing them to run away from God in the first place. This does not mean shouting others down and beating them into submission – that is not the way that God works, nor is it the way that Christ taught either. Instead we need to reach out in love and invite the calm back into people’s lives; not just during lesson times but in every step of our lives.

Points to Ponder:
Do you put people down?

Or do you allow God to lift people up?