Daily devotion – an almost Christian
Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Sunday after Sunday, midweek after midweek, Bible study after Bible study, people sit under the teaching of the Word of God.
The mighty Apostle Paul is given the opportunity to share his testimony and the word of God with king Agrippa 11, in the Book of Acts.
Act 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
Act 26:29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”
Agrippa’s words and his reaction to Paul’s preaching are like many people’s today. There is a listening but no impact. An audience but no reaction.
In Churches throughout our nation, the Bible is taught, and the people listen and then simply go home. Only to repeat the process again the following Sunday.
Jesus described people’s hearts in either of four categories:
Hearts that are ‘wayside’
Hearts that are stony ground
Hearts filled with the cares of the world
Hearts like rich fertile soil
When one hears the word of God taught there must be a reaction of some kind, an impact in some way.
But somehow in today’s society our hearts have become so sterile that the preaching of God’s word is tranquillised in some way by our apathy to the things of God.
The next time you read the Bible, or sit under the teaching of God’s word, take notes, ask yourself ‘what is God saying to me through this passage? What am I to learn, what does this mean for my life?”
There can never be a neutral listening ear or heart to the word of God.
Secondly, act immediately on what God’s word is saying to you. Don’t put things off. Or you will be like king Agrippa and your life’s testimony will be, “A person who was almost persuaded to believe in the things of God!”