today’s conversation
Someone said, “Where expectations are high, we tend to rise to meet them. Where expectations are low, we tend to drop and meet them.” Can you think of any relevant examples?
Is There a Reason?
By Mark Francey, 19, Australia Early in my Christian life I was asked to help out at a youth camp. At that time I was a university student and had just lost my job several months earlier. So, money was quite tight but I decided to go for it. After paying for the camp I [...]
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Loading ...ODJ: adoption option
In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father (v.16).
READ: Matthew 5:13-16
In his Apology (AD 197), Tertullian argued that the Roman government should stop persecuting its best citizens. He said that Christians not only prayed for the emperor and the empire, but they also sacrificed for the sake of their neighbors. He said they pooled their money “to feed the poor and to bury them; for boys and girls who lack property and parents; and then for slaves grown old and ship-wrecked mariners; and any who may be in mines, islands, or prisons.” They didn’t use their cash to fund lavish banquets as the Romans did.
This “trust fund of piety” was so successful that when a new emperor named Julian the Apostate wanted to return Rome to its pre-Constantinian, pagan ways a century and a half later, he discovered that paganism had been thoroughly discredited by the charity of the Christians. Julian complained that he could not turn people from the Christian faith when “the impious Galileans [Christians] support not only their own poor but ours as well.”
A similar opportunity exists today. James 1:27 states, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress.” Christians are rightly known for opposing abortion. What if we were also known for supporting adoption?
What would happen if our churches were lovers of orphans; if our church directories were as diverse as the world; if we made disciples of all nations in part by adopting their most at-risk members; and if mothers considering abortion chose life because they knew they could give their child to any number of Christian homes?
We would be imitators of God, who has adopted us into His family, and we would generate praise from non-Christians who witness our good works. They just might become followers of Jesus; but if not, they would at least understand why someone would. —Mike Wittmer
If you can’t adopt a child, perhaps you can provide prayer, financial, and family support to those who do. What will you do today for needy orphans?
(Check out Our Daily Journey website!)
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5) Loading ...ODB: the treasure and the pots
April 16, 2010
READ: 2 Corinthians 4:1-11
We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. —2 Corinthians 4:7
It has been said that the Roman Empire ran on olive oil. It was used in cooking, bathing, medicine, ceremonies, lamps, and cosmetics. For decades, olive oil from southern Spain was shipped to Rome in large clay jugs called amphorae. Those jugs, not worth sending back, were discarded in a growing heap of broken shards known as Monte Testaccio. The fragments of an estimated 25 million amphorae created that man-made hill, which stands today on the bank of the Tiber River in Rome. In the ancient world, the value of those pots was not their beauty but their contents.
Because of this, the first-century followers of Christ would have clearly understood Paul’s illustration of the life of Jesus in every believer. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7).
Our bodies, like amphorae, are temporary, fragile, and expendable. In our modern world that highly values outward beauty, we would be wise to remember that our greatest treasure is the life of Jesus within us. By God’s grace and power, may we live so that others can see Christ in us.
We are just the clay pots. Jesus is the true treasure within us. — David C. McCasland
Christ is seen most clearly when we remain in the background.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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