BIBLE PASSAGE:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”;
and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good;
and God divided the light from the darkness.
(Genesis 1:1-4)
MEDITATION:
The first book of the Bible tells us about the creation of the world
and the creation of human life. When we read the book of Genesis,
we can see a parallel to human life before and after a person has
given his or her life to God.
We see that at one time the earth was without form and void. It did
not exist at all, until God spoke and breathed life into it. He created
something out of nothing. While it was covered in darkness, the Spirit
of God was hovering over it. However, when He spoke, suddenly and
instantaneously light was introduced to a dark world.
The parallel:
Without Christ, we have an emptiness in our life. Our life
is void of all the good things from God and we don’t have
a form that resembles the Lord.
We are living a life in darkness with the Holy Spirit hovering
above us. Why would He be hovering above us? Because He
wants to come in; He wants to dwell within us; He wants to
bring light into our lives; He wants to fellowship with us and
show us how to really enjoy life and a relationship with Him.
The true meaning of life can only come through Jesus Christ, and it is
only when we are willing to allow Him to be the Lord of our life that
He can do His perfect will in us. When we invite Him into our lives, He
can replace our emptiness by creating meaning and direction for us.
Think about what that means to us. We are no longer ‘just existing’ and
living one day at a time. Instead, we can become someone who is worthy
and usable by our Creator. Our existence can mean something because
we will now have a purpose which has been ordained by God.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we have been given the opportunity
to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. However, we have
the requirement to invite Jesus Christ into our heart to cleanse us of
all unrighteousness (the darkness in our life). Darkness cannot cover
light, but light can disperse darkness; sin is darkness, but Jesus is light.
ACTION:
Questions to ask ourselves:
– Do I still feel a void in my own life?
– Are there areas of my life that still feel empty?
– Do I need to have a light shining in my life?
We have been invited to ask Jesus to come into your life and pick up the
broken pieces. He is the One who can create meaning and direction for us.
Why wouldn’t we want to seek a new and exciting life that includes a close
relationship with our Savior and Creator?
When we invite the Lord into our life and commit to following Jesus,
should we expect changes? You bet we should! However, the changes
we will experience are good for us. It means our focus, desires, habits,
attitudes, language, etc. will all change, but the changes will be for our
benefit now and will create in us a ‘grand hope’ for an eternal life with
the Lord.
Most of us are not comfortable with ‘change’, because it means we will
have to do things differently with a new attitude and anew focus. It can
be difficult for us to agree to leave our ‘comfort zone’, but when we can
wrap our minds around the ‘goodness’ of the changes we can expect, we
will more readily accept them.
God is good and He wants what is best for us. When God is involved
in the changes we need to make to become followers of Jesus, we can
be sure that when we experience the results of our transformation, we
will know the changes He made in us were well worth it!
When the Lord changes us, it’s not a ‘one and done’ process. We will
continue to be transformed (sanctified) by the Lord as we grow closer
to Him. We can be confident that He will purge us of the things that
are unrighteous and fill the voids with new and righteous things.
Why does God want to change us? He knows how sin and unrighteousness
can damage us and our relationships with others (and with Him) in many
ways. In addition, God wants to give us a new purpose for living – we are
to become His missionaries (conduits for Him to work in the lives of others).
Have you ever thought of the magnitude of God working through us?
It will be an exciting time when we are able to experience His ability
to change us; the things we can’t change ourselves. Most of us know
that Satan will try to fill our minds with all kinds of reasons to avoid
this transformation (boring, unworthiness, loss of friends, missing
out on the pleasures the world has to offer, wasting time, giving
money to the church and receiving nothing in return, etc.).
Why would Satan do that? It’s because misery loves company. He allowed
his pride and selfishness to forfeit God’s blessings, and he wants everyone
else to miss out on them as well. His choices doomed him to an everlasting
punishment and eternal separation from God. If we listen to his voice and
follow his advice that whispers in our minds, we will have the same fate as
him.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to die to self each day and
allow You to fill my life to overflowing. If I have strayed
from my relationship with You, I invite You back into
my life. My desire to fellowship with You is greater than
any desires I have to follow the ways of the world. You
can bring organization to my confusion and provide
meaning and direction for me. Teach me how to let
You mold me into the new person You want me to be,
so I can grow closer to You each day.”
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