READING GOD’S WORD SHOULD BE A DELIGHT FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN

SCRIPTURE:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, 
in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your 
own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
(Philippians 2:3-4)

MEDITATION:
Reading the Bible should be a daily desire (not habit) of every Christian.
Why? Because as believers, we are called to emulate Christ, and in order 
to do that, we need to know what we should do as a representative of His.
In addition, we discover the importance 
of how various scriptures work together for the good of all people.

For instance, in his letter to the Philippians, 
Paul tells them (and us) to put others first.
That is contrary to a world 
that encourages us to think only of pleasing ourselves.

Jesus walked in a different direction than the world 
and we are called to do the same.
In addition, as we become more familiar with the scriptures, 
we discover that Paul’s instructions for living as followers of Christ, 
are closely linked to important words from our Leader, Jesus Christ.

Look at what Jesus said about our consideration of others.
He tells us that when we see Him face to face, 
we will be held accountable for the way we have treated others.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he 
will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before 
him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd 
separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right 
and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed 
by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the 
creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I 
was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you 
invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you 
looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and 
feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you 
a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did 
we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the 
least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 
(Matthew 25:31-40)

We have seen the benefit of emulating Christ and His concern for others,
but we are also given the cold truth of the consequences 
for those who choose not to follow the guidelines in God’s Word.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are 
cursed,into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For 
I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave 
me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I 
needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and 
you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty 
or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the 
least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal 
punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46)

ACTION:
If you are a Christian, are you reading the Bible on a daily basis 
and delighting in the absorption of these God-inspired words?
More importantly, are you adjusting your habits, attitudes, 
words and actions to emulate the One you are following?
The life of Jesus was an expression of love for others 
and you are called to love others as He loved you.

He has shown you what love looks like 
– putting aside your self-interests to do something for others.
It becomes possible for you to do things that seem unusual 
and take you out of your ‘comfort zone’, when you see an example of it being done.
Jesus gave you a visible example of a life with pure love and pure service.
He served undeserving people at a great personal cost to Himself.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I admit that I have been living way too long under the 
influence of worldly values that have caused me to think mostly of myself. 
I want to change and start emulating the life of the One I have claimed to 
be following. Help me to make this transition and realize the impact on 
others of the things I do and say. Forgive me for the things I have done 
that caused others to doubt the sincerity of my faith. Help me to replace 
these worldly and selfish habits with Godly and unselfish actions that 
assure others that my faith in Jesus is ‘real’ and that I am not just 
playing at being ’religious’. Thank You, Jesus, for setting the example 
for me to follow. Help me to love and have concern for others in the same 
manner You love and have concern for me.”