WATCHWORD:
1 Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. 3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. 1 Corinthians 15:1,3-7
Meditation:
Spelling Mistakes
Bill Crowder, in a recent Our Daily Bread devotional tells the story of Thomas de Mahy, an apparently super-arrogant aristocrat during the French Revolution. When about to be executed, was handed his death warrant and responded, “I see you have made three spelling mistakes”, completely disregarding a more significant issue, his eminent death.
The Christian church does not have a good track record with our own “spelling mistakes”. You might call it “majoring in minors”, but one only must look at the nearly 50,000+ different “flavors” of Christianity scattered around the world, splinters of the church of Jesus Christ, that have broken out because of the color of carpet, the naming of a room, the matter of baptism, and who is able to take communion, and how, and should there be wine? Or the personality of the pastor and does he tell good stories or does he tell too many stories. Or perhaps he isn’t even a he, she’s a she, God help us! Majoring in minors, spelling mistakes. Yes, God help us.
There are other spelling mistakes that churches make in today’s world. Crowder goes on to point out that too often the church is seen as a political action group or has only a singular purpose to worship the Lord in strict religious ceremonies, rather than get hands dirty, by being led by the Holy Spirit.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he told believers in Corinth the matter of first importance was that Christ died for our sins and his death and resurrection is the centerpiece of our faith. How can we, within the Christian church, truly be children of God and tolerate, doing nothing, about our own failure to actively share the “good news” wherever we can, by whatever means we are led to follow?
Step outside the church. Think of yourself as a child of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, the singular purpose God has given you, personally. Are you majoring in minors, are you paying more attention to spelling then to the meaning of the Word? Are you working yourself to the point of exhaustion doing what you think the Lord wants you to do, while ignoring the fact that if you’re exhausted you are not following your Lord. There comes a time when the Almighty Himself tells you to rest, a command to refresh the Temple of the Holy Spirit, in preparation for what God has next in store for you. Believe it will not be a “spelling check”.
Bulletin Board:
My latest book, Justice for Ben, will be released tomorrow, Tuesday, November 11, through book store outlets by Palmetto Publishing, Justice for Ben is a faith-based adventure story, a parable of repentance and the power of following the will of the Lord.
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(Sorry for the commercial added to a devotional, but folks, it’s a good read! — Stan Escott)
Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, help us to keep the focus on You, on the purpose You have for us in this world of ours. Give us the strength and the courage to step out, to follow Your will even in the smallest things of our lives. Be with us when we need to make difficult decisions, help us to make the choices that are in keeping with Your Kingdom and Your Will. We offer these prayers, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
