Devotion by: Carleton Ruthling
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets,
I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
and my judgement goes forth as the light.
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.
In reading the request to write a devotional. I was struck by the request to write “a personal story that demonstrates a time when I made a sacrifice”. My first thought was of Christ’s sacrifice of his life to atone for all of our sins. Then I thought of all of the many blessings that have been given during my whole life. As a consequence, I can think of no sacrifice that I have made that is even slightly worthy of writing about. As a matter of fact, I can’t think of anything that I would classify as a sacrifice that I have been called to make.
Rather, I believe that I should be concerned for those less fortunate than me and attempt to determine what Christ would have me do with part of the assets and time that Christ has given me to care for during my remaining time on earth.
I do believe that this thought process will vary greatly with each individual but I also believe that Christ will guide us in making our decisions if we pray for guidance and then listen to his message. Certainly we need to consider our church and the many outreach programs that it is involved in but also other areas that serve in Christ’s kingdom.
PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for my many blessings. May I be more worthy of Christ’s many blessings and have the courage to listen to Christ’s voice in making decisions in my life. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment