Saturday Reading: Ephesians 4 25-28
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 28
28  Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, so that he may have something to give to him who needs.

Devotion:
I love this description of a lie: “A lie is a voluntary disagreement of the mind and speech with a design to deceive...” How often do you give in and tell a lie rather than sharing the truth? How often do you then persuade yourself that that lie you just told was for a good cause? When I look back on my school days and think of all the lies that I did tell I shudder. How did I ever think that I would be able to get away with any of that? It’s not just the fact that I had told lies but rather that I have deceived many other people through what I have said; and it was intentional!

Is it then a labour of need that I am now a Christian youth leader? No! I feel at my best when I am talking to young people about God. I feel privileged that I am the one chosen to represent God in front of young people who are still trying to figure out the truth from the lies. Our society is born into lies and deceit. Our society thrives on those same lies but cripples itself under the weight of all that deceit. Being able to stand up and tell people the truth and allow them to see that there is still someone out there that loves them even though they know what they are like inside of themselves is the greatest. I just hope that the love that I can share goes a small way into showing them that God’s love is not only without question but without end!

Being able to do work for God is the most amazing experience anyone can have. Being able to put all my own wants and needs aside and give myself for God’s Work is more than I could have ever hoped for. Yes it was a huge step to take on my role as youth leader, but it is a labour of love. I do it because I want to. I do it because I know there are more children out there that don’t know anything about God. I do it because I know God wants me to. I don’t expect rewards for it and I don’t expect thanks because I know that many people will not care one way or the other. But I do know that every word that I tell my kids goes into their hearts. God will make them into the people He wants them to be too.

Points to Ponder:
Do you lie?

Are you willing to give out the truth?

Friday Reading: Mark 7 9-13

Key Verse: Mark 7 11
11  But you say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban! (that is, A gift to God, whatever you may profit by me)

Devotion:
Have you ever said that you cannot do something because you have already promised something to someone else? I’m sure we have all done that at some stage so that we would not have to give in and share what we have just because we don’t want to share. This is what Christ was talking about when He said that people say “Corban”. That word was used to indicate that something had been dedicated to the Lord and that it should not be used for anything else. Now at this time people were already saying that they had dedicated things to God and yet were still hanging on to them for their own use but effectively making it so that nobody else would be allowed to use them!

It had got to the stage where people were excluding even their parents from being able to use or have certain items because the children would say that those things were dedicated to the Lords use only. How many things do you have like that in your life? I’m not talking just about things that you say are dedicated to the Lords use because in our culture we do not have that sort of an issue but rather about things that you have said are for one use just to get out of sharing them for another use? And it’s not just the physical things in our lives but us as well.

Christ came into this world to show us just how far things can go when you show others how much you love them. When you do that you must do so with open arms and an open heart too. That means sharing with others and not keeping things to yourself. That means making sure that you are available to others should they need your help. That means making sure that you are willing – not necessarily able – but willing! Christ wants us to be willing souls because He showed us how willing He was to save us from our certain demise.

Points to Ponder:
Are you able?

Are you willing?

Thursday Reading: Ezekiel 33 31
 
Key Verse: Ezekiel 33 31
31  And they come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words. But they will not do them. For with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their unjust gain.

Devotion:
I wonder, have you ever gone into a class and behaved as if you were listening to every word the teacher said only to get outside and breathe a sigh of relief forgetting about everything they were trying to teach you? I’m sure that we have all been there at some stage, maybe not in a classroom but certainly we have all pretended to listen intently as the teacher tried to teach. Just what did we hope to achieve through what we did? If it was in a classroom then we had probably had to be there, but if we did this in any other situation then we may well be doing something entirely different...

Ezekiel was a great profit who listened to what God had to tell him; not only that but he made sure that others got to know about it. Yes he knew that some of the people that would come to listen to him would not do anything about what they heard, but he continued on. Just like that, we will face people who will come along to listen to God’s Word but will do nothing about it. We will teach them all we can and they will simply walk out the door and go back to their own ways rather than taking in what you have just tried to teach them. Can we blame them? No because we have done that before as well...

What really does count though is that you are sowing the seeds in the first place. It may well be that we sow the seeds and someone many years later will be the one that sees that person come to Christ. I know that many of the children I have taught have gone out into the world better prepared because they have heard the truth. They now know the truth and can take it with them... they may not realise the truth in their own hearts, but they do know it. God is the one who will bring them in. He is the one who will bring those words into their hearts where they will them know the truth from their hearts instead of just in their heads.

Points to Ponder:
Do you give up easily?

Do you persist with God’s Word?

Wednesday Reading: Mark 7 1-7
 
Key Verse: Mark 7 7
7  However, they worship Me in vain, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

Devotion:
How often do you look at the things that are done around you and wonder who started doing that first? It is not only in everyday things but also in many churches and man seems bent on upholding the habits of his forbearers rather than the Word of God. There are many things that have their right place in our lives and many things that we should do to remember those before us and yet more things that are actually done better now than they were years ago – but what price do we pay when we leave God out of our conversation?

The Pharisees had upheld the strict rules that were originally written down for the children of Israel. These were rules written down because that is what those people needed at the time. The children of Israel needed a firm hand guiding them if they were going to make it through the wilderness. God wanted to stamp His authority because that is what they would have to adhere to for many years to come yet. Christ was coming so that we would no longer be totally constrained by the Law but rather that we would be able to live under grace. This does not mean that we can ignore the law but rather that we need to recognise that Christ alone is the way that we can have our sins forgiven us because He is the one who has paid for that sin debt.

The Pharisees were still caught up in the law and they had made that law more important than their relationship with God. They were standing on mans law ability rather than on the fact that God was the one who had given them those laws in the first place. They were sticking to the laws because that was the thing to do rather than sticking to the laws because God was their provider. We must not lose focus on that fact that God is at the centre of our lives and our world!

Points to Ponder:
Whose law do you follow?
 
Do you focus on God?