Monday 23 Jun 2014

June 23: Matthew 10:34-39

Key Verse: Matthew 10:37
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

Devotion:
One of the hardest things to accept as a new Christian for me was loving God more than anything and anyone and putting Him first in my life. The first two commandments given to Moses on the tablets were to love God above everything else and not to allow anything else to be a god. Jesus reaffirmed that by telling us that we need to make sure that God is first because our beliefs will get in the way of normal family stuff, or rather normal family stuff will get in the way of God’s business!

When we are willing to make sure that we give precedence to God then we find that He does allow us enough love and time to be with family. When I focus on doing things and say that I do it because of my beliefs I am not really focusing on God, I am focusing on what I can do for Him. If I focus on being in church and being at the right places to be seen with other Christians then I am focusing on what I think I should do for God. Focusing on God means giving your life to Him and being willing to do His will, not what you think is your duty!

If I were to continue telling you about what I think and what I do then would this devotion be about me? Probably… It is not about what others do, not about what others say, not about what we do; it’s all about God. God has done everything for us. Christ gave His life for us. We need to recognise those facts and live for God. When we do live for Him He allows us enough love to share with others.

Of course we are going to get things wrong at time and of course we will make mistakes, but God knows that and sent Jesus to level the ground again because He knew what we would be like. Being a Christian and holding up God first in your life is not going to win friends but it will certainly influence them! God did not come to make us a big happy society but to tear man’s ways apart so we can refocus our lives on Him again.

Points to Ponder:
Do you look for love in others?

Or do you look for God in others?