Monday January 3, 2011
Theme: 2011 - A Year of Maximum Impact
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Time Has Come - Hillsong, Happy Day - Jesus Culture, 'Til I See You - Hillsong, How He Loves - David Crowder
Read: Exodus 4:1-5
Think: At first it sounds like a question we’ve probably all asked a child at some point: “What is that in your hand?” Perhaps, like me, you can remember a suspicious parent asking you that question. Parents often have a good reason for asking, since kids often get hold of things they shouldn’t have. As adults, the question could haunt us, too. Our hands are prone to hold the wrong things.
In his message this weekend, Pastor Ben pointed out that God had something very different in mind when he asked Moses “what is that in your hand?” God was ready to show Moses that anything yielded to God can be used to influence others for God’s purposes. When Moses followed God’s instructions, the staff became a powerful tool for good. Moses was able to use a simple shepherd’s staff to influence the Pharaoh, probably the most powerful person in the world at that time.
Compared with the staff of a shepherd on the run, we hold some pretty amazing stuff in our hands every day – phones, car keys, iPods, and credit cards, for example. I’d probably be holding my Blackberry if God ever spoke out loud to me. I can only hope He gives me the same command He gave Moses: “throw it on the ground”!
What would it look like if we yielded to God not just these things, but the life of which they are part? What if we stopped waiting for new stuff, or new circumstances, but determined to be an influence for God today? No matter where we are, or what we have, if we permit God to take over, we can influence others in positive ways.
Do: What will you hold in your hand next? Perhaps it’s something you use everyday, something too mundane to be of use to God (sort of like a shepherd’s staff?). Without even imaging what God might do with it, are you willing to give it to Him?
Pray: Lord, it’s hard for me to understand how You could use me or my stuff to influence anybody, or even why You would want to. Still, I’m ready. Right here, right now, I want to show others Your goodness. Use me today, God. Amen.
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.