Even God Gives Us a “To-Do” List
Wait, what am I suppose to do to receive peace?
Verse of the Day
“Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Today’s Devotional
If….then. There are a lot of “if, then” statements in the Bible. Even when the “if” and the “then” are not clearly stated. Like in this verse. If we do certain things, then we will receive the Presence of Peace in our lives.
God’s love is not at all conditional. He loves us no matter what. But I believe that our relationship with God, our awareness of his presence and power, our ability to hear and see God, and the blessings of abundant life in the Father through Jesus are absolutely conditional. Those things are part of a partnership, which require both sides to participate.
Paul is reminding us that our faith calls for action. We are told to “DO”. But do what?
Do what you have learned; from reading the Bible, and commentaries of the Bible, and spiritual books that make you think.
Do what you have received; from God placing a burden on your heart, from answers to specific prayers, from weird coincidences that you can’t explain without saying, “It was a God thing”.
Do what you have heard; from sermons, from podcasts, from other believers, from praise music.
Do what you have seen; by watching the examples of faith that you see in the people around you.
So how does this partnership with God work? In part, I have no idea…I just know that it does. I have a friend who says, “God will do for you the things you cannot do for yourself. For everything else, he expects you to get off your ass.” Forgive the language, please, but I really do believe that is true. I can rearrange my life to make spending time with God a priority. I can ask for God’s words and guidance during my day. I can ask God to show me how to be loving. Then I can use those words and actions in my life. But note….In my experience, my instinctual reaction in most situations is not Godly. That’s why I need God all day long. It’s easy to get angry, frustrated, worried, or sad. It’s much harder to remember to stop and pray, to breathe and think so I can respond instead of react, to capture my thoughts and align them with truth, to choose kindness over selfishness. But that’s what we are supposed to DO!
Christianity should be a lifestyle of faith that is attractive to others. People don’t need us to promote Jesus or tell them what to believe. We should all be behaving in a way that every person we come in contact with thinks, “Whatever that person has, I want it.”
So if we will do the actions that align with our faith in Jesus in our daily lives, then the God of peace will be with us. It’s my belief that God is always with us. But maybe this verse is telling us that the more we obey, the more peace of God we will receive in our daily life. Obedience isn’t always my first choice, but the peace of God is something that I long for in every moment.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What can you do today with something you have learned, received, heard, or seen? How can you be a more active partner in your relationship with God? If in doubt, ask. Just don’t forget to listen, and then act.