Scripture Reading…Colossians 3:1-17
Devotion
Life is more than to just wake up every morning and eat something, drive something, go to work, sell something, come home, eat something, watch something, sleep - and the biggest prayer of your life being, “Thank God it’s Friday!!” You have been raised to new life! The old things of this world have passed away! Who are you in Christ? I hope to encourage you to remember that you have a victorious life to live and that nobody can live it but you.
A great question for all of us to consider is: “What would you do for the glory of God if you knew it wouldn’t fail?” The moment you know that answer, the next question has to be, “why aren’t you doing that?” Can we dream a little? Can you imagine your whole street, neighborhood turning to Jesus? Can you imagine leading your fellow students or your co-workers to Jesus? These aren’t “pie in the sky” dreams, they can be realities! “What would you do for the glory of God if you knew it wouldn’t fail?” Start a new career? Become a Full-Time Missionary? Lead a Non-profit that serves the community? Maybe go to the same job tomorrow, but with the mentality of Colossians 3:23 (Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.) God chose you to overcome. He has placed a vision in your heart, and He will guide you into spiritual success! And if you ask, “What if it doesn’t work?” Hey, you’ll be dead in 100 years anyway! You might as well go for it! The real question is, “What if it does work?” What if God shows up? What if He uses your influence to save souls and build up His Kingdom, the church?
Have you thought about this or are you just caught up in the “merry-go-round” of normality & complacency sold to us by the wicked world? If that’s how you are living, you’re not doing it right, and I am praying that God would turn your world upside down & show His glory to you and through you in service to another person! Put off the old ways of that apathetic life and renew your zeal for the Lord’s glory! There’s only so much that we can pack into this physical life, let’s make it count for eternity! Prove to this world that Christ really does “rule in your heart!”
CHALLENGE FOR THE DAY
Walk at least one mile today.
Respond to the online community.
Write down three things you’d like God to do through your life for His glory and share that with others who will encourage you to act on His leading! Pray a bold prayer, a prayer of action, and then tell someone (who will hold you accountable) about your desires for the glory of God.
Today's reading is, to me at least, something that we need to read often! And if we add the rest of chapter 3 and the first 6 verses of chapter 4, we might could call it "Christianity 101." Coupled with the devotional text for today, it is a great reminder of what Christianity should look like in our lives.
If you're like me and don't measure up to all that's called out by Paul in today's scripture reading, join me in thanking God for his grace and let this be an incentive for us to continue to work toward making our lives look more like the life that Paul describes in today's reading.
As a career, I chose to be a teacher. People would often ask me why I chose to teach. There are so many other fields I could have gone into that would have been so much more...lucrative. But I would tell people, and I truly believed, that teaching was my calling. I treated my career as a mission field. I tried to check myself to make sure what I was doing what was in accordance with His will. I looked for opportunities to share my faith.
A couple of years ago, I changed careers. I no longer have the audience (if that's the right word) I once had, so now I am struggling a bit in trying to find ways…