2 CHRONICLES 30:12

Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the Lord.

TO PONDER

I wonder if you ever saw the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? There is a line in that movie which is spoken by the Greek mother to her daughter in response to her father's frustrated words "I am the head of this house!" If you have seen the movie perhaps you remember the mothers response, "your father may be the head, but I am the neck and I can make the head turn whichever way I want."

I think that 'the hand of God' mentioned in today's reading is a bit like that. The problem is that there are a lot of things in this world wanting to "lay their hands on us". Something or someone who lays hands on you has a certain amount of control over where your attention is focussed. It's why we have children hold our hands as we cross the road, it focussed their attention on us as we lead them through the dangerous traffic.

God is always ready and willing to lay his hand on us and lead us towards his purposes, but he also gives us freedom to wriggle out from his grasp and choose to let other things lead us in different directions. I guess the question for each of us today is 'whose hand is guiding you at the moment and what purpose is that hand leading you to'?

PRAYER

Lord, help me to take hold of your hand today. May you always be the one who sets my feet upon the right paths and who leads my towards your purpose. Help me to resist those things that seek to lead me astray, in Jesus name, Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle