Devotions
Recently, I was listening to family remembrances at a memorial service for a phenomenal Christian couple that recently went home to be with the Lord. As I listened to each speaker share testimony after testimony, I was blown away by their practical example of what it means to be a Christian who has been raised from the grave of sin with a sovereign regeneration.
Every spring and summer, I take some time to declutter and deep clean my house, because like many other people, ‘stuff’ always seems to find its way into my home. This annual decluttering ritual allows me to purge and discard all the unnecessary items that stealthily invade my space, making me feel as though I cannot think, breathe, or move. Did you know that our minds can also get cluttered? As we make our way through life, we are exposed to all kinds of situations, ideas and messages that can sometimes have lingering negative effects on our lives. It can interfere with our ability to thrive spiritually.
Words matter! As someone once noted, “Words are free, but they cost.” The writer of the gospel of Matthew says that every word we speak is a gauge to our spiritual condition. For it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). Indeed, God will hold us accountable for every word we speak, in the judgment.
Leon Morris, a New Testament scholar, once said: “There is no point in accepting Christian teaching if we refuse to let it shape our lives.” The writer of the book of James is more direct. He says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22). And yet believers around the world have turned their backs on doing the word. Instead of letting God’s word shape our lives, we have allowed the influences of our world to shape us.
