Your Created Purpose
By Chaz Oswald, Michigan Baseball is a popular pastime in America. In this sport, a baseball bat (a long, thin, fairly light but tough object) is designed for the specific purpose of hitting a baseball. The greatest potential for a baseball bat is realized when it is used to hit a homerun—when all players can [...]
a message to thieves
If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need (v.28).
READ: Ephesians 4:17-32
The entire act was caught on surveillance tape: While three friends and I dined at an outdoor café in East Africa, a man wearing a black jacket entered and sat down at a table located at the opposite side of the restaurant. My friends and I didn’t notice him, not even when he swiftly moved to the table next to ours. The man took advantage of our lack of awareness and—as we prayed over our meal with eyes closed—took my handbag off the back of my chair, slipped it under his jacket, and bolted.
It’s likely the thief experienced added elation over his successful scheme when he discovered that the handbag contained money, an expensive camera, and more treasures. I imagine he felt no remorse, much like the Israelites as described in Jeremiah 2:26. “Israel is like a thief who feels shame only when he gets caught.”
Scripture contains a strong word of advice for my handbag-snatcher and culprits like him. “If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need” (Ephesians 4:28). This message applies to all of us non-handbag-snatchers as well, for it’s likely that on more than one occasion we’ve taken something that belongs to someone else. For example, have you ever taken credit for a colleague’s work or idea? Or perhaps you’ve temporarily stolen someone’s happiness by saying something hurtful or untrue to him or her.
I confess that too many times I’ve done such things. And the rewards of taking, I’ve found, never measure up to the joy of working hard and giving as one who is God’s own (v.30). When we give, He says we store up treasures for ourselves in heaven. The treasures of those “handbags” never get old or develop holes—or get stolen (Luke 12:33). —Roxanne Robbins
What are some ways you have stolen from God or others this week? What will it take for you to repent and change your ways?
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Loading ...one passion
July 15, 2009
READ: Luke 14:25-35
If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. —Luke 14:26
Nechayev, a 19th-century disciple of Karl Marx who had a role in the assassination of Czar Alexander II, wrote: “The revolutionary man . . . has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution.” Although his motives and goals were wrong, Nechayev’s statement shows the singlemindedness of commitment.
Jesus wanted true commitment from His disciples. In Luke 14, we read that large crowds joined Him as He traveled toward Jerusalem (v.25). Perhaps these casual followers considered themselves to be His true disciples, but Jesus taught that following Him was more than just knowing facts about Him. He explained what it really meant to be His disciple when He defined the cost of discipleship: Nothing, not love for father or mother or even one’s own life, was to take precedence over loyalty to Jesus (vv.26-33). His disciples (then and now) must acknowledge that if God is to be primary in their lives, possessions and even social relationships have to be secondary.
Jesus calls His followers to be absorbed in a single, exclusive thought and passion—Him. — Marvin Williams
Our love for Jesus is the key to spiritual passion.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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