February 21: Matthew 6 1-4

Key Verse: Matthew 6 1
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Devotion:
Yesterday we touched on the fact that we may be able to fool some people some of the time about our spiritual laziness by continuing to do the right things. Our only problem with this is we cannot hide it from God! Christ warns us here about hypocrisy and the outward show of religious duties or alms. A firm reminder that He is able to see right through us and that only genuine behaviour is acceptable to God.

If we are going about our duties just because we think it is the way it should be done, or because we are called Christians or just to impress other people, then the only people we are fooling are those we are performing in front of. God is not fooled and will certainly not accept your performance as anything else other than the work of fiction it is! This is a sin that may be encouraging others, but when it is uncovered, it may well do more damage than a simple admission up front. When we continue to do things just to service our pride rather than God then we should look for no other reward than the one we are serving up to ourselves.

It is our choice as to what we do with our lives. It is our choice as to whether we serve God as a willing subject, or whether we serve our own pride and keep God second. (Exodus 20 3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.) Our pride, when we serve it before God, becomes our god because we are holding it before God!

There is no need to publish the fact that you do things. There is no need to tell the world you can do things for God. There is a need to encourage others by doing things and encouraging others to do things, but the fine line is crossed when we do it for our own pride before God's will!

Points to Ponder:
Do people know you because of your character?

Do you serve God honestly in private?

February 20: Proverbs 19 15-16

Key Verse: Proverbs 19 15
Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.

Devotion:
The worst thing about laziness is that it not only breaks people down physically because of lack of exercise, but it also breaks them down mentally and spiritually due to the lack of mental and spiritual exercise as well. Any lack of physical exercise shows up quickly on people as they gain weight or loose body definition. Mentally lazy people get shown up less quickly because they probably tend to stay away from mentally challenging situations. Spiritually lazy people take a while to get uncovered because they can continue to say the right things without meaning it! Lazy people will waste away their time, their talents, their usefulness and become a burden to others around them. Spiritually lazy people are no different on this front because they too do become a burden to those who continue in Christ's will.

When we become spiritually lazy, we are going to starve ourselves of the very thing which feeds our souls – God's Word. We no longer seek out and find God's Word but rather wait for others to bring it to us. We no longer exercise our faith but rather wait for things to happen and if they do not happen, we shrug them off. Falling into that trap is so easy but the longer we are trapped, the harder it becomes to get out of the trap! If we are not willing to work for a living, then we should not expect others to bend over backwards and supply us with everything we need. If we are not willing to seek God, then we should not expect Him to come running after us all the time!

God is faithful and just to everyone, but those who are willing to keep His commandments are assured of a much better relationship with Him. Those who are willing to never go out and seek the truth, will never find it. Those who never find the truth, will never find God. Those who never find God, will never get to heaven. We need exercise; physically to keep us healthy, mentally to keep us alert and spiritually to keep our relationship with Christ alive!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you skip church?

Is your spiritual health up to it?

February 19: 2 Thessalonians 3 6-15

Key Verse: 2 Thessalonians 3 6
But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.

Devotion:
When I was at university, one of the things I found easiest to do was to follow other people in not doing the work! All it took was one or two people to suggest anything other than work and we would be off as a group doing something other than the work we should have been doing. The only saving grace for me was that I did not live on campus and was able to do some work when back in my lodgings!

To a large extent we have to face up to that very same circumstance in our churches all the time. Satan is going to use whatever he can to get us away from doing God's work. He is going to use others around us and even use people who do come to church. We may well be living in the age of grace where Christ's blood has already paid for our sins, but we still have to live. We still have to do our bit to continue the life we live. We still have a choice as to whether we are going to do the work Christ would have us do, or to choose to ignore Him and do our own thing!

This does not mean that we must turn our backs on anyone around us who we think is not pulling their weight – far from it. God wants us to be examples to others. Examples of encouragement and strength. Examples that people can look up to for encouragement and strength. Verse 13 states “be not weary in well doing”. Don't turn your back on being able to do a good turn. Don't turn you back on Christ's work because it is through that work others will be able to be encouraged!

If we set the example to do Christ's work, others will be more willing to do the same instead of giving in to the temptations of laziness and all manner of distractions which Satan can throw in our ways every day. But we must be careful to set the example by actually achieving things rather than just by just talking about it or making it look like we are doing something all the time!

Points to Ponder:
Do you distract others or do you give in to their distractions?

How much time do you give to God each day?

February 18: Matthew 16 24-26

Key Verse: Matthew 16 26
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Devotion:
If we do want to be true to Christ, then we do have to change our lives from the life that we knew before we knew Him. Each one of us needs to try our best to walk in the same way Jesus did. Each one of us needs to try our best to do what Jesus did – apart from giving our life for the sins of the world because He has already done that. Self-denial may well be our hardest lesson to learn. We do think so much of ourselves as we focus our existence around ourselves. That is the very essence we need to let go of to focus our lives on Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in our everyday lives rather than picking and choosing what we desire all the time.

To “take up our cross” is to take on the work Christ wants us to do rather than pleasing ourselves. We may well think we are hard enough to take on the cross of others, to be able to bear their sins as well as our own. That would break us and we would fall into sin ourselves. Christ has given each of us a simple task – to take up our own cross, not everyone else's!

If we want to be able to carry our own cross, then we are going to need help. He knows we cannot bear it by ourselves and has already paid that debt for us. He wants to guide us and keep us, not for us to flounder under a cross we cannot bear. Following Christ gives us the chance for daily and real assistance from God.

If we try to save ourselves, we are going to get no further than to be able to stand on top of our cross; the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. By thinking we can work our way to heaven, we are assuming we are equal to Christ. We need to release our pride and give our lives back to Christ so we can follow Him and know that we will be lifted up by Him when the time comes. Nothing we can attain on earth will ever pay for our sins!

Points to Ponder:
Who is the strongest Christian that you know?

Nothing they can do will get you to heaven!