Today’s Devotion
Topic: By All Means, Be A Star!
Text: Philippians 2: 12- 15
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. Amen
Almost every young person wants (or wanted) to be a Star at one point in time or another. That is, someone very famous, very rich, very influential, enjoying the pleasures of this world and having others worship him/her like a demi-god. They imitate so called “superstars” and spend time reading about their “success” stories. These celebrities are branded to appear flawless on the red carpet, yet are full of scandals in the media.
The interesting revelation is that God wants us to be SHINING STARS too and the criterion is not to sell our souls to the devil for fame, wealth and power. But so:
i. We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. This means being conscious of the fact that salvation, although a free gift from God, is the most important treasure that one can possess and hence must do everything to keep. God wants us to do this bearing in mind that it is still He who works in us, both to will and act, according to His good purpose.
ii. We do everything without grumbling and complaining. “Everything” here actually includes what we do not agree with God that we ought to do.
Now by practicing the above, we will become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then we will shine among men like stars in the sky.”
Guess what, we are not going to shine power, fame and wealth (those are bonus gifts that the King of Glory bestows on His Children), we are to shine the life of Christ; His nature and glory so that others might see and want to be like Him too.
So dearly beloved, by all means, shine like a star. The only question is: what kind of STAR will you be from today, an ambassador of light shining for Christ in a dark and perverse generation, or an ambassador of darkness shinning for evil to draw others away from salvation?
Meditate on this and begin to pray. Commit your ways to the Lord; ask for grace to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
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