Devotionals for September 22, 2022

Come to our Night of Worship on Saturday, October 15 at 6:30pm! We will have childcare available for your little ones. 

I Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spoke as a child and thought and reasoned as a child.  But when I grew up, I put away childish things.

As a child, I went with my parents on a mission trip to Mexico to literally help build a church. The pastor was a Mexican with God's heart for his people.  At the time, there were many things taking place that I didn't notice or didn't understand, the Spanish language being the foremost.  We visited the area where the pastor's greatest yearning was to reach for the Kingdom of God.  It was a small town.  A town where the poorest of the poor had converted a city dump into homes for their families.  We were invited into the home of one of the pastor's congregation.  It was smaller than you can imagine, dirt floor, gaps between the driftwood and discarded boxes and refuse that made the walls. My mom and dad were engaged in conversation with the people who lived there when a cart pulled by a donkey came around.  The homeowner pulled out a bucket and the cart driver filled it with water from a rusty barrel on the cart.  The family was so overjoyed to have us there, that they poured some of the water into cups and offered us a drink. This was not tapped water.  I looked at my mom and she nudged me to drink what I was given.  Later that evening while my dad was preaching through an interpreter at a rally in the town, a girl came up to me.  She looked about my age and she had a toy I hadn't seen before.  It was two large glass marbles attached together by a long string.  She would pinch the string in the middle and move her hand up and down, making the marbles clack together.  Although we didn't understand each other, she wanted to teach me how to play.  I nearly knocked myself silly trying.  We both had a good laugh.

As a child, I did not comprehend much of what was going on, but looking back with adult eyes through the lens of God's love, that experience is overwhelming.  The family shared their only ration of water for the day with us.  The little girl shared her only possession, her glass toy with me.  The compassion of offering a stranger a drink or sharing with someone the one thing that brings you great joy can only be described as love.

How has this experience changed me? Time! The progression from childish to mature understanding of love has revealed the enormity of each of these gifts.

Imagine the day when we will truly understand the enormity of God's Love.

Q: What childish impressions of love do you need to let go of in order to mature in love?

Q: How can you change the way you speak, think, and reason to help you grow in the love of God?

Q: As you mature in God's love, what are the lessons you can bring to others to help them grow and mature in Christ?

"Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us."

Oh God, forgive us for not giving Your love the recognition and devotion due to You.  Help us to understand and forgive others with the same love that you have extended to us without condition or reservation.