ACTS 2:37-38
When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
TO PONDER
We generally use our motor vehicles to get us from one location to another. We have a route determined beforehand that we plan to follow. To date we don’t yet have practical autonomous vehicles that drive themselves, so we have to be actively involved in directing the vehicle along the planned route. Even on a straight road we need to be continually correcting the direction the vehicle is taking, otherwise it will veer off the road which could be quite dangerous.
In some ways, our lives are similar. God has a plan for our lives that includes taking us from the person we are today to a person more like His Son Jesus. This is a life-long process. It begins as we respond to God’s invitation and agree to surrender our lives to God’s plan for us. The Holy Spirit is given to us to guide us on the journey. But like the car, we have a strong tendency to wander off from the directions God is giving us. And as we wander off, we get hurt and damaged and need repairs. God then takes on a role similar to the tow-truck driver and panel beater to get us healed and back on the road.
But, of course, there are other “fun” things that a car can be used for, like street racing and doing burn-outs. Because of the potential for causing injury to people and property by these activities, they have been made illegal. Similarly, in our lives, there are lots of “fun” activities that can attract us away from God’s plan for us. Now God is definitely not a 'kill joy'. He designed us to enjoy life and Jesus definitely joined in the celebrations of life while he lived here on earth. However, activities that we may be enjoying to the detriment of others is not part of God’s plan. Rather, his plan is that we consider others and work towards their enjoyment of life, trusting that God would bless us with his joy while we are doing this. So, when we start getting off track, our loving God will work in the way he knows best to get us back on the route he has pre-planned for us.
What an awesome God we have who is so committed to us living life to the full and enjoying the journey he is taking us on.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for calling us to repentance, washing us clean in our baptism and giving us a new birth into your heavenly family. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit to be our guide in life, especially as you continually guide us back onto the path that leads us to eternal celebration with you in Heaven. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping