October 23: Matthew 25:1-13
Key Verse: Matthew 25:10
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Devotion:
This story has always fascinated me because it just seems so far from what I think of Heaven being like. It’s not about the fact these were virgins but half of them were described as being foolish, not because they did not come prepared, but because they were not fully prepared.
If we bring this into a more modern setting, we won’t talk of virgins coming to a bridegroom but of people coming to meet a long missing friend who is flying in to meet them; the problem being they are at an airport in the middle of Africa where there are no lights other than torches and battery lamps carried by people (we’ll ignore the fact there must be lights on the runway for the plane to land!)
Now each friend brought a torch with them which worked. But half of them did not have spare batteries. The plane was delayed... like really delayed... So they all took a nap while they waited. When they heard the plane arriving, the torches had run out of battery power. The half who had spare batteries simply swapped out the batteries and carried on. Now, we can’t share batteries between torches, so some had to run off to the local shop to try and buy a new set of batteries... but when they returned, they were too late to meet their friend...
God wants us to be prepared to try and cope with many circumstances we will encounter while we wait for Jesus to return. If we do not have the wherewithal to cope in some way with what we face, we may well to too tied up in the world to notice when Christ does return. God wants us to be ready – which means being prepared for as much as we can be.
Points to Ponder:
Do you wait till you run out of batteries before you get more?
Are you running short in spirit because you are not being charged by God’s Word?
October 22: Ephesians 2:8-10
Key Verse: Ephesian 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Devotion:
Every day we should be getting up and remembering we are saved by God’s Grace. It is nothing we can do to earn this position other than having faith God will allow us to attain it because we trust in Him and believe His promises. God has created us and assigned us to be saved by what Jesus has already done for us – this is what He has done before we even got to know Him – because He knew us first!
I love knowing there is nothing in the way of me being able to be with Jesus in Heaven for all eternity other than the choice I make. Jesus came to save the world and has given us this gift; yet, if we do not open this gift, we have nothing.
So, when we, as Christians, say there is nothing we can do to obtain this gift, there is the choice we each must make which has to be done so we can open the gift! Other than that, there is nothing we can do to earn our way to Heaven. Jesus has laid down the path by which we get to Heaven and we simply must walk that path. It does not matter if we fall off and must climb back on, it does not matter if we can’t find it until someone shows it to us... The path is always there.
I know many Christians like to shout about how wonderful life is with God, and it is! Shout we must! But we also should remember it is because of this gift Jesus wrapped up for us which we simply need to unwrap. We can boast all we like about the gift after we have opened it, but boasting about how you earned the gift is not the truth...
Points to Ponder:
Do you tell others you are a Christian?
Do you boast for Christ or for yourself?
October 21: 1 Peter 2:7-10
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Devotion:
After talking about Jesus being the cornerstone the writer opens up on how the world views this cornerstone we know as Christ our Saviour. The world does not see a precious and chosen cornerstone, but some random stone picked up and used as a building block which in their minds does not have a place in the building! The world cannot see the value of God’s chosen cornerstone!
Because of the vast difference between how the world views Christ and how we see Him, this cornerstone is a stumbling block for many; they cannot reconcile the importance of this cornerstone. They know how important any cornerstone is, but they cannot see why Christ has been chosen when in their eyes they need to see something (or someone) much more spectacular!
The cornerstone may well be on show and may well command a special place in many people’s eyes, but for the person who is filling the house with stuff they want, the cornerstone simply doesn’t matter to them; they are leaving the importance of the building and the foundation out of their lives.
God has chosen us as a special race; special people who are going to take good care of the whole building, acknowledging the importance of the foundation and the cornerstone. God wants us to shout and sing the praises of our cornerstone, Christ Jesus, to the world, to shine as bright lights in the darkness of this world, to season the tasteless communities with salt and allow people to know our cornerstone!
Points to Ponder:
Are you hiding the cornerstone or displaying it proudly?
Will you live up to the name Christ gives you, “a royal priesthood”?
October 20: 1 Corinthians 3:10-17
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 3:16
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives among you?
Devotion:
What do you build your Christian life on? Do you advertise the fact you go to a huge mega-church as if it means something special or do you hide the fact you are not attending any church because you cannot cope with the people in church? We all have our differences as Christians just as all people are different in ‘normal’ life; we each have our own personal needs.
But, as the writer reminds us in these verses, we have to build our Christianity on a true and solid foundation – and that foundation is Christ Jesus! If we build our lives on anything other than Christ at the centre, we are living a life in this world instead of living a life with Christ.
Even though the Holy Spirit lives within each of us, if we are not going to allow the Spirit to work in us, then we are ignoring God’s constant calls. We need to take heed of what God says to us, not just from the words written down in our bibles, or the words recorded by others which Jesus spoke, but every step of this relationship with Christ through the Spirit.
Take time to stop and listen to what God says in your life. Take time to think about what God has in store for you. If you blindly rush into things because it could be what God is saying, you are living your own life and not what God wants in your life. Listen careful and prayerfully to all of what God is saying to you in all ways. If we are depending on Christ, we are all working toward the same goal – just in very different ways to what churches expect!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live with Christ at the centre of your life?
Do you listen carefully and prayerfully to the Holy Spirit?