Tuesday 23 Jun 2020

June 23: Mark 7:14-15

Key Verse: Mark 7:15
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.

Devotion:
What is it which makes you afraid of going out into the world and showing people you are a Christian? I know we all still have fears during this time when the virus is still hanging round our necks, but what I am aiming at here is the choice we have to go into a different surrounding to our normal lives and try to make a difference. I used to be very scared of allowing myself to be ‘corrupted’ by people whom I thought not to be Christians, but God has taught me we have to do what Jesus did!

Jesus did not just limit His journey to a few converts and teach them all they needed to preach to others. He went into the most deprived places, the places where criminals kept company and to the places where one would not normally invite yourself into. This is what He wants us to do as well – as scary as it does sound and feel!

The thing which opened my eyes was to go onto a travellers camp and open up the bible to the young children. I have never felt so comforted by God and, as it happened, so protected by the people I was sharing God’s Word with! When God wants you to go somewhere, He is going to make sure you make the right impression and are comforted and cared for as long as you are doing what He is asking. It is very easy to go in with your guns blazing and try to do things by yourself and how you think things should be done. This is not what God is asking. He is asking us to continue listening to His instructions!

So how do we know the difference between what we want and what God wants? There-in lies the issue for us. We have to ask Him and wait for instructions. Not just a couple of seconds after we pray as our minds fill up with good ideas, but wait for as long as it takes for Him to give us a definitive answer – that is always the hard part!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are doing the right things for God?

Are you doing what God is actually asking?