Dear Readers,
On Thursdays and Fridays (Her Ministry Bible Study meeting days), we will be posting a devotional that is specially formatted to share either Jesus’ words or His actions, and how it applies to our lives as we are “Living By His Example.” We hope you enjoy these special devotionals!
HIS WORDS
“…If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
John 7:37
Come To Me
HIS EXAMPLE TO US
Jesus invited anyone and everyone to come to Him.
HIS WORDS
I’ve had to confront my own bias and prejudice too many times to count. I never even knew I held prejudice in my heart, but at some point the Lord began to convict me. It is clear to me now that I grew up with ideas of inferior people groups who had fewer abilities, less-able brainpower, and predictable responses to situations. They “always” held certain types of jobs, felt a particular way, and were only “good for one thing…” I grew up thinking they didn’t belong in this country, and should be rounded up and sent somewhere else.
This prejudice developed in me during the historical time period of the Cold War, so in addition to racial prejudice in my own country, I held many beliefs about countries with other forms of government. Any person, ideas, or words originating in those places was immediately suspect. I virtually trusted no one with different skin color, speech, government, country, religion, education, or culture. As a young person, I didn’t trust the older generation; as an older person, I didn’t trust the younger generation.
MY RESPONSE
Jesus has no prejudice. Anyone who is thirsty can come to Him and drink. He wasn’t just King of the Jews, as He was called, but in fact is the King of all—all peoples, all nations, all events, all aspects of nature, all outcomes. His Kingdom is all-inclusive, and I should be also. I put myself in the place of another god when I pick and choose who I share Jesus with, who I accept, who I love, as if I were sovereign over those things. I will follow His example by inviting everyone He brings into my life to come to Jesus and drink from Him, the living water. I will live my life in such a way that others can see that He has quenched my thirst, and He is ready, willing, and able to quench their thirst, too.
MY PRAYER
“Father, forgive me for holding onto prejudice. Reveal to me where that still lurks in hidden corners of my heart, that I may repent and be forgiven. Help me to share Jesus boldly to all who are thirsty. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”