Thursday 21 Dec 2017

December 21: Matthew 11:1-6

Key Verse: Matthew 11:6
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

Devotion:
No sooner had Christ been giving instructions to His disciples when He would go out to all people and teach them too. His work was a labour of love, something He never tired of doing because He knew it was sorely needed by each and every one of us. He knew what had to be done, and He knew that is what was required so we would get to know just how much we need a Saviour.

We all have our doubts at times. Now whether John had his doubts at this stage or whether he simply wanted his disciples to be shown Christ's teachings in person is not up for discussion as we do not have enough details here. What is shown here is that even the most ardent workers have to be shown or told things at times to strengthen their beliefs. While Christ was here on earth it was easy for many to see His miracles first hand. Now we are living in our time of faith, we need to listen ever more closely to find out what is happening all around us. We don't have Him walking amongst us performing the miracles in person, but we do have His Word describing all manner of things that have happened.

We need to exercise our faith in order to make it stronger. God is going to allow things into our lives which will do exactly that. What we do when we are faced with those 'exercises' is up to us. We can ignore them and allow our faith to become overweight and unfit, or we can work with them to strengthen ourselves. John knew his disciples needed strengthening and this is why he would continue teaching them. Christ knew the ordinary people needed teaching and that is why He did teach them. Without teaching we can easily loose track on what we should be doing and get carried away by those around us who are doing all manner of things; things which are certainly going to be offending God! It's amazing how quickly we will pick up on those things given a few minutes.

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are looking after yourself physically?

How are you looking after yourself spiritually?