Wednesday 20 Nov 2013

Wednesday Reading: Matthew 12:18-21

Key Verse: Matthew 12:19
He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

Devotion:
Despite all the news we hear about Jesus teaching and preaching we also have a lot of places in our bibles showing us that He was not one for standing on a soap-box and shouting all about what He was doing. Rather we find places where He told the crowds to keep it quite so that He would not upset the religious lot. Jesus wanted to be able to go about His Father’s business without the interruptions that would come if He were announced in the news.

Whilst we may well get more people to hear us if we stand on a street corner and shout about God’s Word, we may find that many people are going to be offended rather than come to listen to what is being said. But if we keep quiet and don’t tell anyone, we are the ones who will be held accountable because we have refused to tell others about Christ… So where do we draw the line? When do we keep quiet and when do we shout out loud?

Christ wanted the disciples to get out there and teach others about the truth. They did not have the instruction to shout all about it, nor to keep quiet about it. We are the ones who need to sit down and learn what the people around us will accept. If we continue to annoy people and chase them away from our churches, then we are not going to be doing our best for Christ. If we keep quiet and continue doing the same old thing, we too will not be doing the best for God. We have to find that middle ground where we are able to tell others firmly about the Word of God and yet still be able to reach them.

God does not give us explicit instructions because He knows that we are all different and need different instructions ourselves in order to reach more people with His Word. It is going to be His Word that will change people’s minds and not how we can jump up and down to encourage others. Yes it does help to keep the audience awake, but it also helps to have an audience… Ask God for that instruction so that you can do your best for Him!

Points to Ponder:
So you think you know people!

Do you know people better that God does?