Monday 26 Jul 2021

July 26: Matthew 20:20-28
 
Key Verse: Matthew 20:21
“What is it you want?” he asked. She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
 
Devotion:
How many times have you told God what you want? I’m not talking about the things we can ask for, for healing or for comfort... I’m talking about the times when we demand something because we think it is right! I know I have gone above and beyond normal prayers once in a while to tell God what I want, but the real peace comes from waiting on God and listening to what He wants from us in the long term.
 
We tend to think about the here and now far too often and not the long-term picture which God is looking at. Our span of attention or focus is on the short-term things we can comprehend and think about. I am no good at games such as chess because I cannot think through the logistics of many moves ahead – instead I focus on the short term moves and I most often end up losing because of this!
 
God always looks at the long-term picture and tries to show us the path we should be taking for the long-term life we have ahead of us. Yes, He is concerned with the short-term because this is where we live; but His focus is on the long-term goal of us making it to Heaven with Him! If we are able to stop and listen to Him more often, we are going to get a life which runs closer to the one He has lined up for us – the issue really is how hard we are willing to listen!
 
Sometimes we demand things which are not possible – but because God has such love for us, He tries to cater for our needs when it is possible (for Him and not for us I might add!) There is no limit to what God can do – but there are limits to what He is willing to do because of the billions of other people in this world! We can’t ask Him to exterminate a country just because we don’t like it! Those are potentially His children too – even if we do not get the chance to witness to them.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you demand things from God?
 
Will you consider His will in your life today?