Week One Devotional

I love New Years. There’s something about leaving your past disappointments, failures and hurts behind you that makes New Years more special. Not only that, but you’re still recouping from the Thanksgiving and Christmas season.

As I was preparing New Years dinner, I watched Terri roll out her home-made biscuit dough on the kitchen table. (Terri makes the best biscuits…anything baked out of the oven, for that matter.) Then she got a short drinking glass and cut the biscuits out. Usually, our kitchen is the most equipped room in the house. (This is not an indictment on the rest of our house.) We have all matter of gadgets and cooking spices – everything of course except for a biscuit cutter.

Then I heard the Spirit say, “That’s the same thing we do with our gifts.” We sometime chose a tool, natural ability or a method of resolving a situation that gets the job done, but it’s not necessarily the most effective means. Oftentimes, we get stuck on automatic – dealing with issues the same way we’ve always dealt with them in the past. Those methods have lost some effectiveness.

So how do we get back our effectiveness? Delight yourself in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night (Ps 1:2, NLT). When you delight yourself in the law of the Lord you get fresh directions on how to handle every situation. Engulf yourself in His presence and they will be no ineffectiveness…you’ll always know which tool to use.
-Abrian Haynes

Building Significance

Today's scripture reading came from Genesis 11. It's the story of the Tower of Babel. I've read this passage many times before, which is why I think going through the Bible in a systematic manner is so helpful. It gives an opportunity for my to revisit some passages with fresh eyes. And that's exactly what happened today.

Verse 4 reads:
And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

The phrase "let us make a name for ourselves" resonated with me. I think Christians, including young adults are looking for a way to make a name for ourselves. We have dreams and plans of being the best at something or even famous. But what we are really trying to build is significance.

Everyone wants to feel significant. We want to feel important and unique in the sea of humanity in this world. As a matter of fact, longing for significance is a natural, human desire. No one wants to feel unimportant.

The problem arises when we attempt to create that significance for ourselves. When we bake bricks to build our own tower, trying to reach heaven with our own human self-effort. Our tower building efforts come from the fact that we need to be significant.

The sad reality is that we are significant. We are extremely important to God. He loves us and cares for us. He watches over us and protects us. And wants to bestow on us significance. He wants to give us meaning.

We have to actively resist building our own significance. It may be tempting and the fear of being scattered is high, but all our significance is in Jesus. Find your name in His kingdom, not with your own strength.

-Terri J. Haynes