IS YOUR FAITH PRACTICAL OR FANATICAL?

G.K. Chesterton is thought by many to have been one of the most gifted Christian writers of the twentieth century. He was once asked, ‘If you were trapped on an island, what book would you most want to have with you?’ The book he chose was not the Bible, it was called ‘Thomas’ Guide to Practical Ship-Building.’ Chesterton’s response reveals his sense of humour, and his sense of the practical. It also, I think, accurately portrays something of the nature of God himself. Many people think of the Christian God as someone who wants to give you exactly what you don’t need. He wants to tie up your life with all kinds of useless activities and obligations. Those people couldn’t be more wrong. Jesus taught that God is eager to give us what we need, what we ask for. Our God is a practical Person.

You don’t need to be afraid, said Jesus, that if you trust your future to God he will lead you off in a direction you hate. If you seek his will in some decision he won’t send you off in directions that frustrate you or create more problems than they solve. God is interested not just in the big issues of our lives, but in the small details. The small things add up to become big things, after all. If you were alone on a desert island, I think God would definitely want you to have the resources to build a boat!

Matthew 7:9-11 ‘Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ (NIV)

Prayer: ‘Father, thank you for your interest in every practical detail of my life. Please lead me to the right people, opportunities and resources today so that I can achieve something good and overcome the challenges thrown in my path.’

THERE IS PURPOSE IN YOUR EXISTENCE

You are not an accident of birth. God doesn’t have accidents! The fact that you are here at all is the result of divine providence, God’s hand guiding history. The fact that you are called to be a Christian and set apart for God’s great plan, proves again that he is very deliberate with you. Now that you’re living for him, the Lord wants to declare, even to people that come from afar, that he formed you and set you apart.

God gave you a name before you were born. That means that he was involved in shaping your nature, your destiny and your calling, before you were born.

In fact Isaiah 49:1-2 says it clearly. ‘… Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.’

He’s fitted you with the nature you need to fulfil the purpose he has for your life. You were born for the work he has you doing now and the work you will grow into over time. There’s nothing accidental about your life at all. There is purpose in your existence. Even when it seems that nothing much is happening for you, there’s a purpose in it. There are times when he will hide you in the shadow of his hand. He will put you his quiver, like a sharpened arrow awaiting its appointed task and time. Yet even then, when you’re itching to go and wondering why God is working so slowly, you can remember that he’s keeping you close to himself. You’re not in some storeroom somewhere, momentarily forgotten while God attends to more important matters, or helps more important people. No, you’re in his quiver; you’re on his person and carried by him at all times.

Prayer: ‘Father, I know that you have a very deliberate purpose for my future. Shape the nature that you’ve given me into something that really hits the mark for you. And help me to remember that, even in the slow times, you don’t forget me.’