December 4 The Gift For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 When a person becomes a Christian, everything changes. I can speak of my own personal life better than any other. My thought life, my motives, my desires, my actions—everything changed after meeting Christ. William Booth, in his book In Darkest England, based the whole plan of the Salvation Army upon such a change in the lives of the converted. He and his lieutenants saw men and women brought from darkness into light, from drunkenness, debauchery, and crime into sobriety, diligence and love. We go not forth in our own strength to this battle, our dependence is upon Him who can influence the heart of a man. There is no doubt that the most satisfactory method of raising a man must be to effect such a change in his views and feelings that he shall voluntarily abandon his evil ways, give himself to hard work and goodness in the midst of the very temptations and companionships that before led him astray. He then lives a Christian life, an example in himself of what can be done by the power of God in the very face of the most impossible circumstances. Multitudes of slaves of vice in every form have been delivered not only from these habits, but from the destitution and misery which they ever produce. Our experience, which has been almost world-wide, has ever shown that not only does the criminal become honest, the drunkard sober, the harlot chaste, but that poverty of the most abject and helpless type vanishes away. Each of us is capable of presenting this magnificent, life-changing gift of God to those in need. Knowing the unlimited power and potential of this gift, how can any Christian be silent around a dying multitude? Who will you pass today—on your way to work or school or the grocery store—that needs this gift? In the light of eternity, what could be more important than sharing it? 2 Chronicles 3-4; 1 John 3; Nahum 2; Luke 18
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 10:56:03 +0000
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