November 16: 2 Corinthians 8 10-12
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 8 11
Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.
Devotion:
It is one thing to say you are going to do something, but and entirely different thing to go forward and perform the act you said you would do. Being able to start a new work is great and very fulfilling but being able to stay and finish that work is something we often fall short of. I know I am guilty of starting things and never quite finishing them - and I am not talking about all the DIY things I should be doing around the house!
When we accept help from others, we would rather they stayed on and helped us through to the end that leave us high and dry in the work we have to do. When God asks us to do something for and with Him, He does not expect to have to finish the work off for Himself! How do you think that makes Him feel when we leave before the task in hand is complete?
We need to show the willingness to help out but also the willingness to stick with it through the completion. We are not just letting down the people we offer the help to but we are also letting God down – especially if we have let those people know we are Christians! This does not mean we have to stick with everything we offer help with – sometimes there are task which work to the detriment of our health; the wise decision then is to stop and take a rest!
The apostles were not asking the local people to do things beyond which they were capable of, but to do things within their grasp. Much of the time we do not start tasks because we think we are incapable of doing them, never mind completing them! But don’t flatly refuse to do everything because you have not done it before – ask God to stand with you and give you the wisdom and strength you need to complete that task; especially when He will get the glory for what we do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like helping others?
Will you ask God to show you how to begin something new for Him?
