Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them.
TO PONDER
Sometimes I wonder how much of my instruction my kid’s listened to. There are times I wonder if anything at all sunk in. My parents probably think the same about me!
As parents though, my wife’s and my instructions to our children would always be accompanied with a ‘why’. Too often the answer to ‘why’ when I was growing up, was ‘because I said so’. So when raising my three boys, my wife and I would tell our children what the instruction was, and why we were passing it on.
Sometimes though, the ‘why’ was not required, as in learning to drive a manual car, changing a flat car tire, or roll-starting a manual car. No need for explanations in those circumstances.
But when mediating an argument, or stopping a fight, or giving advice, these always were supplemented with a ‘why’.
And as people of faith, or living as children of God, people will occasionally ask why we do what we do, because often to the world we live in, it makes no sense. And that answer is easy because He first loved us. Give that answer to the question and follow up from there.
PRAYER: Thanks for your unconditional love, Lord. Thank you that we can live in your wonderful world as your followers. Thank you for parents, teachers, and all those in authority that assist us in our lives. Help us to listen to them more. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.
TO PONDER
Nurture or nature. This was a term often brought up when studying for teacher training. It was linked to the behaviour, or more likely the misbehaviour of the child in the classroom. We explored the concept in a psychology class, because as a teacher, it is sometimes important to know the ‘why’ behind the undesirable behaviour.
Our theology tells us that due to original sin, it’s nature.
But there’s also the response to the gift God has given us, and that is to live as a child of God, meaning we will do our best to act in love, faith and purity. Usually, our parents are instrumental in bringing up their children as responsible citizens in God’s world – and that’s nurture.
I reckon Paul knew this when writing this instructional letter to his co-worker, Timothy. It’s an encouragement to Tim, and an encouragement to us.
So it’s ok to be reminded of our original sin – the nature bit - but then always always finish with the gospel. Always remember that Jesus overcame the sin for us, giving us the opportunity to live in love and faith and purity.
PRAYER: Thanks, Lord, for your servants throughout the ages that have kept us on the straight and narrow path. Help us to do this and shove us back on the path when we begin to fall off or lose our way. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping.
“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”
TO PONDER
Have you heard of child prodigy Michael Kearney? Born in 1984, Michael completed high school at age 6 and graduated from university at 10. After a couple of master’s degrees, he received his Doctorate in chemistry when he was 22. He certainly didn’t have trouble speaking when he was younger. When he was 6 months old, he said to his paediatrician, ‘I have a left ear infection’.
Jeremiah however, was lacking a little confidence. But God knew what He was doing when he called Jeremiah. The verse before the one above tells us that Jeremiah had been set apart by God, and that God had things planned well before Jeremiah was born.
Understandably, Jeremiah is overwhelmed, afraid, taken aback, and probably astonished by this call from God. Called people often are.
But if you get a chance, please read until the end of verse 10. God is basically saying, ‘I’ve got this. Leave it with me. I’ll handle things from here. All you need to do is trust’.
Do you have that trust? Do you have the faith that God is in control, and will monitor all situations His children are involved in?
It’s the truth. Let go and let God.
PRAYER: Father, forgive us for the times we haven’t trusted you – when we haven’t let you do your God-stuff. Continue to watch over our lives and when we are stuck for words, plonk them in our mouths. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping.
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
TO PONDER
Legend has it that the youngest monarch in history was crowned just before he was born. Shapur II ruled part of Persia in 309 AD. He became the King immediately on his birth as his father had recently died. It was reported that he was crowned while still in his mother’s womb, after advisors placed a crown on top of his mother’s belly.
There are other Europeans who also became monarchs on the day of their birth.
So Josiah from our reading doesn’t hold any specific world record in terms of ruling from an early age, or longevity, as he ruled 31 years.
God though, is the longest reigning monarch, the longest serving King. Because he’s been doing the king-stuff for the thousands of years that we have records for – and way before that. There’s no abdication planned, as there’s no successor.
And thank God that He is in charge. Part of a king’s role is to serve, and we have a servant-king, always available, always there, always present.
PRAYER: King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we thank you for watching over us every minute of the day. Thank you for your constant and never-changing care for us. Remind us to thank you for that every day. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
TO PONDER
In my mid-thirties, I was involved for a while with a para-Christian group. One of their activities was a yearly conference which would usually include an evening devoted to a debate with invited atheists and sceptics. Needless to say, these evenings would be quite lively. At the end of the evening when the attendees left there would usually be a review of the evening and an assessment of who won the debates. I doubt if anyone ever changed their mind as the result of attending the debates. Maybe the organisers of these debates should have taken the advice of the apostle Paul to young Timothy.
A very interesting book I read recently was “How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being THAT Guy)” by Australian author Sam Chan (available from shopACR.com.au). Sam explains that people become inquisitive about following Jesus when they see the impact of Jesus on his existing followers: their natural serenity, security, trust and joy.
When we wear the badge of Christian, we become ambassadors for Jesus, demonstrating by the way we speak and do things that we have the transforming power of our God working in us. In one sense, this is what others are looking for – a power outside themselves that brings the freedom and healing that they are looking for, and only Jesus can give to them.
The good news for us is that we can stop trying to be the people God wants us to be, and rather surrender our lives to God’s transforming power and let him change us to be his witnesses.
PRAYER: Loving Father, I’ve been trying to be a good witness of your love and regularly fail. I give myself to you to change me into the person you want me to be. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
TO PONDER
Jesus used many well-known and understood relationships to help us understand the relationship he wants to have with us. Some are parent/child, ruler/subject and master/servant. We probably warm mostly to the parent/child relationship for the sense of love and security it gives us. But Jesus wants us to also understand that we have responsibilities in these relationships. And here he uses the master/servant model for what he wants to teach us.
Following Jesus is not like signing up to membership of a fitness club and then it is up to us whether we go or not. Following Jesus means getting down and dirty with whatever Jesus is doing and wherever it is happening. Sometimes it is messy, sometimes it will be smelly and sometime it may be heart rendering. Maybe our role is to hold the torch so that Jesus has light to work by, or to just hold a person’s hand. But we can’t do that if we are not there beside Jesus while he is working.
There is an upside; we will see the Master at work, bringing comfort and healing. Our faith and trust will grow as we see Jesus’s renewing and healing power at work. There is no glory for us in this, just a growing sense of awe and wonder at the majesty of our God.
PRAYER: Loving Father, we really struggle to fully understand why you would want to involve us in the work you are doing to bring your healing to hurting people. Continue to open our eyes, ears and hearts to see where you are working and respond to your call to follow you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
For he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed.
TO PONDER
The above verse is part of the song that Mary sang after she arrived at Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth was Mary’s cousin and 6 months pregnant with the man who would become John the Baptist. So first, let us review what led up to this point. Mary, a young engaged woman, possibly about 16 years old, is at home when she suddenly finds a strange, but awesome, man in her room. Mary freaks out, but the visitor sooths her fears and says he has a special message for her from God. She will get pregnant without having sex – as a miracle from God – and she will deliver a boy child who will have a massive impact on the world. And by the way, her very post-menopausal cousin, Elizabeth, is miraculously pregnant and in her sixth month. Mary’s response to the angel, if translated into Aussie lingo, might be something like “no worries, I’ll do what you ask”. The excited Mary then rushes off to visit Elizabeth. When Elizabeth meets Mary, she gets very excited too and the six-month-old baby, John, in her uterus joins in the excitement. Elizabeth and Mary then share some Holy Spirit inspired exchanges, the above verse being part of Mary’s contribution.
Mary has no illusions about her deserving in any way the honour of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son, and then the responsibility of raising this child. She happily accepted the part she was given to play and let God take responsibility of the rest. For example, she didn’t have to work out how to escape the murderous plans of Herod; God did that.
I sometime wonder if when we feel God is calling us to do something for Him, we baulk at the task because we see it taking us far beyond our comfort zone or our ability. But in reality, God is just calling us to go, and He will do the difficult stuff. Thinking about Mary, all God was asking her to do was carry and give birth to a baby, something that she had every expectation she would be doing anyway after she married Joseph.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you for inviting us to be part of your family and to be involved in your family business. Please help us to grow in trust in your promises to be with us as we obediently follow where you lead us in serving you and sharing the good news of your love for everyone. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
A king delights in a wise servant, but a shameful servant arouses his fury.
TO PONDER
Now retired, I do sometimes reflect on my working life, on the highs and lows; on my successes and failures. Often these reflected my relationship with those I reported to. But I also had a few situations where the relationship I had with someone who reported to me just wasn’t working. Often the source of conflict was that the goals of the more junior person did not align with the goals of the more senior person.
Our relationship with God can be seen in the same light. God has a plan and purpose for every single person on this earth. Through Jesus and his disciples, God has revealed his plan to us and he is inviting us to surrender OUR goals and purpose into HIS goals and purpose for us. But we tend to see this as negative and restrictive. We have things we want to do and a whole world of wonders to experience. We have responsibilities to our families and to those who provide the funds (e.g. wages) we need to live on. We also have responsibilities to our governments.
I, and I guess you too, often find it difficult to trust God’s love and promises when we are faced with the practical realities of life. Jesus did promise that if we surrendered our lives to his goals and purposes, all the other things that he sees we need for a fulfilling life would be given to us (Matthew 6:33).
And just an afterthought, the most awesome experience we ever have in this life will pale into insignificance when we experience the glories of heaven.
PRAYER: Father, thank for your amazing love and commitment to us. Help us to grow in trusting your love for us and letting you lead us on your planned adventure for us. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
TO PONDER
Jesus is giving instructions to his disciples on what life will be (or should be) like as they answer the call to follow him. Yes, there will be some big and exciting stuff like performing miracles and providing healing, but there will also be challenges and opposition. They will even be tempted to give up and go back home to what they were doing before their call by Jesus. Jesus’s teaching ends with the verse above.
You will notice that cup of cold water is not being offered to those outside the group but to the extended group of Jesus’s disciples, even the quiet, insignificant ones. I see this as a call to the way we care for one another within our congregations or small groups (depending on our individual situations).
I am reminded of a former member of our church (who has now gone home to be with her Lord) as she would watch out for any visitors to our worship services, or anyone standing alone after the service, and go and talk to them. She would then take them to a group of members standing around with their tea or coffee having a chat and introduce this person to the group. (And often she would then leave the group to see who else may need some company.)
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please open our eyes to see the opportunities around us to live out your love, even if it is just as simple as a cup of refreshment. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping