Date: December 24, 2009 8:58 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Symbols or the Real Thing
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!
Symbols or the Real Thing
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6)
Scripture Focus: Matthew 23:1-12
Seeing a man with a gray cross on his forehead on Ash Wednesday reminded me of phylacteries, the little leather boxes containing Scripture that devout Jews wore. They believed they were obeying God, carrying His words with them on their foreheads and arm. But some of them got carried away. The more prominently they wore the phylacteries, the more godly they thought they were. But they apparently missed God’s intent—to memorize and treasure His truths, applying them to their lives.
Symbols can become so important that we lose sight of God. Holding tight to something material may make God seem closer. Wearing a cross or setting angel decorations around a house might make a person feel safer, but trust in symbols isn’t what God wants. He wants us to trust in the real thing—Him, and spend time reading His Word and talking to Him.
Symbols are only “things” with no power. They can’t make us be the people God wants us to be. Only He can do that.
Insight: It’s our relationship with Jesus Christ that makes the difference in our lives, not the symbols of Him we might wear.
You can subscribe to this devotional at: http://groups.google.com/group/michael-inmans-devotionals
No comments:
Post a Comment