June 26, 2013 2 Chron 1–3, Acts 3, Ps 78:title–4,
Prov 16:1–2
Proverbs 16:2 “All the ways of a man are pure in his own
eyes, but the Lord weighs the motives.”
2 Chronicles begins with the Lord seeing into the heart and
motives of the new king, Solomon. When given the opportunity to have anything
he wants he asks for wisdom. If God were
to give you your heart’s desire what would it be? Would it be fortune (a car,
house, retirement account, win the lottery, etc.), fame, vengeance (some seem
want nothing more than to hurt those that have hurt them), power, or what? God
knows our hearts and we are called to set our minds on his will and his kingdom
and all the other things will fall into place.
One of the themes in Acts 3 is priorities. Following in the
example of Christ (Mark 3; Luke 8:40ff; John 3 and 4, and many other places)
Peter and John understand the value of taking time for one person and to pray.
They were very busy men and no doubt there were many crowds and demands for
their time and energy. However, they took time to minister to a beggar and to
pray to the Lord. Is it possible that we can get so busy with the urgent that
we neglect the important? What is most important to you? We tend to make time
for what we see as important. Are individuals important to you? Is your family?
Are your friends? Do you take time to talk with God? When there is no prayer
there is no real relationship. Again, God knows our motives and we have to keep
the main thing the main thing.
Psalm 78 tells the history of Israel. The history is told
not only from the perspective of what happened, but also from the perspective
of how the nation treated God. If this nation (and we are not God’s chosen
nation by any means) were judged by how we treat God how would we be judged?
This history is told so that children would never forget and
would not follow in the rebellion of their ancestors. God commanded his people
to teach their children about him several times in the Bible. That command is
important for us today as well. I am very concerned that this generation is
being taught a form of morality that is not in line with Scripture. I for one
am not willing to sit and allow the precious minds of the children God blesses
me to teach to be deceived by Satan if I can help it. Will you join me in
praying for and seeking out youth to encourage and teach the ways of God?
Pray today that the Lord will give you an opportunity to
encourage and teach a child today. Pray that those that are babes in Christ,
regardless of age, will be given proper guidance in their faith. Pray that God
would use you to do this. Pray about your motives today.
No comments:
Post a Comment