I’d Rather Be Childish

ALL – Psalm 37:29-40
ALL – Proverbs 21:27
OT – Job 4:1-7:21
NT – 1 Corinthians 14:18-40

Interesting passage for the day: Dear brothers, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent babies when it comes to planning evil, but be men of intelligence in understanding matters of this kind. – 1 Corinthians 14:20, The Living Bible

Thought: Has anyone ever called you childish? It’s a stinging rebuke to receive, no matter who gives it. No adult likes to be called childish. Child-like? Maybe. Childish? Never.

Too often the world lures us into its clutches by calling us childish. The world views believers’ convictions against immorality in various art forms as childish. It insists that being anti-abortion or opposing homosexual marriages is childish, immature, and under-enlightened. The world tempts us to consider whether perhaps its view of ethics and morality is better than ours—not because its view offers any true wisdom or justice, but because the world makes us feel inferior by calling us childish.

God spoke through Paul. And God says that it is fine with Him if we are children as far as evil goes. But God wants His people to be grown-ups in understanding not only what is good and right, but what is best and most fitting for the purpose of guiding people to love Jesus Christ more fully.

Question: Would you consider yourself to be a child or an adult in knowing God’s expectations? How about in the eyes of your peers at work—in the lab, in the classroom, in court, in the factory? What will you do to seek the nourishment that God provides so that you can grow to be more like the child of God that He’s made you?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Use Your Life and Wealth for Good

ALL – Psalm 51:1-19
ALL – Proverbs 10:31-32
OT – Numbers 10:1-11:23
NT – Mark 14:1-21

It’s late, so I’m not going to say quite as much as usual. But here’s the gist of what I’m thinking. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “The good is enemy of the best.” I think that’s true if we get into a casual attitude of patting ourselves on the back and saying we did “good enough.” But read the following…

Some of those at the table were indignant among themselves about this “waste,” as they called it.

“Why, she could have sold that perfume for a fortune and given the money to the poor!” they snarled.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why berate her for doing a good thing?” – Mark 14:4-6, The Living Bible

This lady had done a good thing. The people around her were angry that she hadn’t done what they considered to be a better thing—perhaps even the best thing. But Jesus appreciated the good gesture of what she had done. She hadn’t been half-hearted. She wasn’t patting herself on the back for a job well done. She didn’t necessarily think she’d done “good enough.” But she’d done the good she knew how to do.

Let’s stop judging one another for not always achieving “the best.” Let’s rejoice in the good we see God doing through our Christian brothers and sisters. Let’s remove the burden from one another’s shoulders of feeling pressured to perform, and instead restore the joy of doing good wholeheartedly and lovingly in Jesus’ name and for His sake, side by side.

Who’s done something simple, but good, that made an impact on you? What did they do?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.