Daily Devotional for April 1, 2012

April 1 ~ 1 Corinthians 14:1-3
Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him. But when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you're letting others in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you.

Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.

Do you have a best friend? Maybe this person is someone you have been close to for a number of years… or maybe this is your spouse, or a relative. I’m talking about a person with whom you can share anything… someone with whom you trust private information you would not share with another living soul. You may even feel like there isn’t another person on the planet who understands you the way this friend does. And someone else may feel the same way about you.

There is nothing wrong with having a close friend with whom you share your private thoughts. But what if you never interacted with anyone else? What if the only person you ever spent time with was this friend… and nobody else ever got to know you? What if this kept your friend from growing as a person and interacting with other people? Wouldn’t you both miss out on a lot? Other people would never get to truly know you… or love you. The many gifts that make you special and unique would never be discovered – or enjoyed - by others… and in turn, you would probably be pretty boring!

Do you see that this is how many of us treat our relationship with God? Some of us never even bother to develop a relationship with Him at all. Others draw close to God and share their deepest, most innermost thoughts and feelings with Him. We enjoy His blessings and bask in the love, grace and mercy of His power and protection over our lives. We seek His wisdom… and sometimes we listen when He speaks. But we never bother to turn around and share God with others. We never show His love, grace and mercy to those we interact with on a daily basis. We don’t live by example… demonstrating by our behavior and lifestyle just how much God has done for us… and showing others we meet what He can do for them!

I have two questions for us to consider today…

1. Have we truly developed an intimate relationship with God… one where we share the innermost details of our heart and soul… and He speaks to us in return?
2. Have we honored our relationship with God by sharing His truths with others, through our words and actions? Do we demonstrate Christian faith in action? Do others have an opportunity to grow and strengthen in God because of our example?

If we are merely giving lip service to God… if we have accepted the gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ, then sat back to rest on our laurels and wait for heaven, then we truly don’t “get it.” Consider the first sentences of this scripture passage once again… ”Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth.” Does this describe your daily living? Don’t you think it’s time it did?

©2012 Debbie Robus