Reading your Bible for Today August 18

August 18: Ephesians 4:17-24

KJV Key Verse: Ephesians 4:22
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Devotion:
Too many of us believe we cannot chance, or give in and say “we are what we are”. We have a very defeatist attitude towards changing ourselves to be a better person. We think we are not good enough, or we cannot change because we are too weak or we are just not good enough. Well, most of that is just what we think and is not based on anything real!

We may not like to think we are weak – but we use weakness as an excuse for getting out of things. We may not like to think we are “geeks” in anything – but we use our knowledge and skills to help others (and even boast about our knowledge when we think fit). We don't like to think that we know nothing – but we use that as an excuse to get out of doing things! You see, what we do is to make up our own rules according to our own vanity; we change the rules to only allow what pleases us!

One prime example is the language we use. We may well be very pleasant and kind and not swear when we are around people from church, but what happens when we are at home – what sort of language do we use then? We think of others as being two faced, but when we look deep within ourselves, we find we ourselves are just as guilty as anyone else. It is little wonder that almost a whole chapter in our bibles is devoted to topics like this.

So can we change? Yes, we can. We have a choice of the things we do, we have the choice to the things we say and we have the choice about the way we act. Each one should not be done to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God. As long as we try to make ourselves something other than what God made us for – we are making things up. God did not make mistakes when He made anyone; we are the ones who have corrupted His creation and continue to do so!

Points to Ponder:
How long do you keep new year’s resolutions for?

Are you ready to put your life behind you so that you can walk with God?