November 24, 2010

Daily Verse

"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the Glory of God. "

1 Corithians 10:31

Daily Devotion

"Direction of Focus"

Beware of allowing yourself to think that the shallow aspects of life are not ordained by God; they are ordained by him equally as much as the profound. We sometimes refuse to be shallow, not our of our deep devotion to God but because we wish to impress other people with the fact that we are not shallow. This is a sure sign of spiritual pride. We must be careful, for this is how contempt for others is produced in our lives. And it causes us to be a walking rebuke to other people because they are more shallow than we are. Beware of posing as a profound person- God became a baby.

  

To be shallow is not a sign of being sinful, nor is shallowness an indication that there is no depth to your life at all... even the ocean has a shore. The shallow things of life, such as eating and drinking, walking and talking, are ordained by God. These are all things our Lord did. He did them as the Son of God, and He said, " A disciple is not above his teacher..." (Matthew 10:24).

We are safeguarded by the shallow things in life. We have to live to the surface, commonsense life in a commonsense way. Then when God gives us the deeper things, they are obviously separated from the shallow concerns. Never show the depth of your life to anyone but God. We are so nauseatingly serious, so desparately interested in our own character and reputation, we refuse to behave like Christians in the shallow concerns of life.

Make a determination to take no one seriously except God. You may find that the first person you must be the most critical with, as being the greatest fraud you have ever known is yourself.

Dear Lord, 

Help me deepen my relationship with You and not fear appearing shallow in a place where it is expected of me to be profound. Help me to live a life that is more in touch with the mundane things of life because You are in those moments as well. Help me lead a life that does not allow others to feel the arrows of sharp criticism or disapproval, and continue to expose who I really am.

Amen