December 26

“We can be deceived into assuming God is more interested in our activity for Him than He is in the condition of our hearts.  God has consistently made it clear that He will not be pacified by even the most generous offerings and zealous service if our hearts are not right with Him (Micah 6:6-8).”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 12/6

This is when living by example is not such a good thing.  We come into a church a “baby” Christian, see the good works of others, and are either solicited to join in the good works or choose to on our own so that we’ll fit in.  If that is the order in which we do things we’ll have missed the whole point of being a Christian!  Our good works must be an outgrowth of our relationship with God.  It reminds me of the story I once heard about a woman who would cut off the end of her roast before placing it in the pan to bake it.  One day her daughter asked her why she did that.  Her reply was “My mother always did it,” but she didn’t know why either.   So together they went to the grandmother and asked her why.  She replied, “Because it wouldn’t fit in the pan otherwise.”  Too often we do things just because others are doing them and in the process do them for the wrong reason.  Our duty as mature Christians is to teach the new Christians.  They must be taught about the Holy Spirit’s role in their lives and what God expects from them.  If we don’t do that, they are in danger of making assumptions that are wrong and will lead them away from God rather than closer.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God.”  Colossians 3:16