Encouragement and Inspiration
GEMS Devotional :: March 2008
Take Hold of True Living[Moses] said to [the Israelites], “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you – they are your life.” In the gate area where I was waiting to board a flight, I took note of the significant number of waiting passengers that were reading. I joined the throngs – my nose in the last few chapters of Deuteronomy. The de-boarding passengers that arrived at our gate momentarily diverted my reading. A young man wheeled his grandmother near me. She was clinging to the small handbag on her lap. “Do you have all your bags, grandmother?” he asked, placing a garment bag at her feet. She ignored the bag on the floor, squeezed the small handbag to her chest, and said, “I’ve got the bag I need.” Looking at me she said, “This is my pill bag. This is my life!” A moment later her grandson wheeled her to their next destination and I returned to Deuteronomy. The first verse I read after the woman’s “this-is-my-life” comment was Deuteronomy 32:47, [The words of the law] are not just idle words for you – they are your life. I smiled at my Abba Father’s timing and prayed, “I get it, Father! You want me to hold fast to You and Your Word with the same intense, white-knuckled grip that woman had on her pill bag!” Sadly, to that dear woman, life is equated to pills. To our culture life is equated to money and mansions, prestige and pleasure, instant gratification and leisurely getaways, convenience and comforts. To buy into the world’s “this-is-really-living” beliefs is to step into the enemy’s white-knuckled death grip on souls. What should Abba Father’s children cling to? How does our Heavenly Father define a life that is truly life? Let’s discover the truth of taking hold of true living in God’s Word through a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19, emphasis mine). These are not just idle words, sisters – they are your life! Faith Step Take hold of true living! Hold, catch, trap and seize the eternal life to which you are called (1 Timothy 6:12b). A man’s greatest care should be for that place where he lives longest; therefore eternity should be his scope. Thomas Watson |
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