I've been struggling with a concept lately. Many of you may be familiar with the concept of Confirmation in the church. Ours is a little bit different than the Catholic practice but some of the elements are the same. It is a spiritual journey that a student goes through involving classes, activities, worship services, and small groups. At the end the student gets a chance to become baptized and accept Jesus as their savior. They also became members of the church. It is a great process and most christian denominations have something similar. I really enjoy that the students become full members of the body of Christ because they actually understand what that means.
My struggle is that I look at the verse in 1 Corinthians 12 and see how we are all a body of Christ and then look at how we carry the weight for each other. If I were to take these scriptures and digest them that means that those who work hard in God's kingdom help do the work for those who don't carry their weight. The 80/20 rule, 20% of the people do 80% of the work. As a ministry worker, this can be frustrating to watch. I would love to accept this figure and say it is just normal. But Christ didn't call us to be normal! He calls us to step up and go beyond. So my questions is, if so many people are reading the same Bible I am, then how come so many people aren't moved to serve in the world around them? It's actually quite perplexing. This is something I have been praying about for quite some time. I know there are simple answers to this, but I don't accept those. There has to be a deeper reason.
As you read the devotional for today, think about that. Think about how you take in the scripture. If your faith is a critical part of your life, how are you responding to the scriptures and its guidance?
Day 34
Scripture
2 Timothy 3: 12-17
- Before Reading the scripture today; Pray and ask the spirit to guide you in the reading:
- 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Wisdom
- Paul is assuring Timothy that he will be protected from the evils of this world if he keeps the word close to his heart. Earlier in this chapter Paul tells Timothy that people will be proud, lovers of themselves, abusive, disobedient to their parents, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, unholy, and without love. I broke the list down a bit because Paul uses a lot more adjectives. But Paul tells Timothy that everyone who wants to live a Godly life will be persecuted, and to protect yourself from that you must use the scriptures.
- I love verse 16. It is so important to our faith. Read it again. It reminds us that we must use the Bible for all that we do; to teach, to hold each other accountable, to fix our ways, and to grow closer to God.
- Do you know what God Breathed means? It’s not just a way to say that the words on the pages are from God, but also a way to say that God speaks to you through the word! Imagine living in a world where we can have a one-on-one interaction with God. How awesome would it be to have the creator of the universe as your confidant and best friend? Well the scriptures are the closest thing we have to that.
- Though the concept is controversial to some people, I believe the scriptures are completely true and given to us by God. It is just that we, with our imperfect minds, misinterpret much of the love and guidance on the pages. Studying scripture doesn’t mean just reading it and quickly applying it, you have to study it, look up context, see who God is talking to, and then see how it applies to us today. These can be tough concepts, but hey, this is our Faith, it is the most important aspect of our lives! We have to work hard at it!
Apply
- Do you believe that all scripture is God Breathed? Meaning it is all accurate and true?
- Can you imagine God speaking to you through the scriptures? Giving you firm but loving advice?
Prayer
- Pray to God as if He was your best friend sitting right next to you. Have a conversation with Him. Thank Him for giving you the opportunity to daily talk to Him. Ask Him to guide you in your reading of the Word. Pray the He protects you from everything in this world that can hurt you.
No comments:
Post a Comment