Saturday 21 Dec 2019

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 given instructions to His disciples, He went out to all people and teach them too. His work was a labour of love, something He never get tired of doing because He knew it was sorely needed by each one of us. He knew what had to be done, and He knew it was what was required for us to 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 the 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 is that even the most ardent workers must be shown things at times to strengthen their beliefs. While Christ was here on earth it may have been easier for them to see His miracles first-hand. Whilst 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 which have happened.

We need to exercise our faith in order to make it stronger. God is going to allow things into our lives which may 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 so we are ready the face more temptations. John knew the people who followed him needed strengthening and so he would continue teaching them. Christ knew the ordinary people needed teaching too, and so He taught all people openly. 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 probably 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?