Wednesday 19 Feb 2014

Wednesday Reading: Acts 20:28-31

Key Verse: Acts 20:30
Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

Devotion:
God has given us charge over many things in this world, but not everything. He has entrusted us with everything though and that is an awesome responsibility for us to handle. Must the same as a shepherd is given charge over the flock but has to take care of more than just the flock, such as the fencing and other amenities needed to keep the flock going, God has given us many things to take care of. His biggest charge that He has shared with us is the church body, something we have to share responsibility for.

Christ has bought the church body with His own blood in that He died so that every one of us may have eternal life; that means we are His and He alone can save us. But what we do as individuals amongst ourselves is very important as described by Paul here. We need to be very aware that there will be people coming into church that will have other things on their minds. They may well be seeking the truth but not finding it and they may well lead other people astray whilst they rummage around in the flock.

If we remain strong in Christ then we shall be able to help hold this flock together instead of splitting it apart. God does not want to have us throw people out of the church or even drive them out by not caring for them but rather that we should hold on to His flock and encourage them back into the Gospel and into His ways. One of the purposes of a church body is that we can encourage each other and support each other; that is God’s design, not mans.

Paul was constantly reminding people of the dangers that we face in this world. He was warning and guiding people every step of the way, after all he was one of those who were trying to infiltrate churches in the early days just so that he could take away the church ring leaders. But when his eyes were opened to the simple Gospel message he turned around and followed Christ with all his heart.

Points to Ponder:
Do you keep an eye out for stragglers?

Are you helping to hold Christ’s church together today?