October 16

Jeremiah 28:1-29:32, 1 Timothy 1:1-20, Psalm 86:1-17, Proverbs 25:17

Pray: Heavenly Father… You have given me another day to live into Your vision for my life and for that I am thankful. Give me the courage to live for You in light of the crazy world that is going on around us. Lord, bless this day and all of the lives that I will interact with in it. In Your powerful name, Amen.

Read: 1 Timothy 1:19 tells us, “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.” Paul is sharing a powerful truth to Timothy here that there are many who have chosen to the follow their will for their lives rather than God’s will for their lives and have ended up in a very different place than they had ever intended. There are many today, maybe this includes you, that have intentionally gone their own way rather than doing what they knew was right. Maybe it was because “everyone else was doing it” or possibly because it was more fun, but whatever the reason, you found yourself with a “shipwrecked faith”.

Edify:1 Timothy is one of my favorite books in the Bible because it's almost a play-by-play look into the mentor relationship between Paul and Timothy. This was a critical read for me as I discerned my own call into ministry. In these beginning verses I am reminded of the role of teacher and leader… it can be heard in verse 5 where it reads, ‘The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith." To be filled with the love of God will help us to accomplish a clear conscience and a sincere faith. As followers of Jesus, we must be diligent in our study of the Scriptures, in prayer, and in worship so that we may, as Wesley said, to have “the love of God shed abroad in our hearts.”

Practice: Take the time today to consider your legacy. How will you be remembered? Who are you investing in? Who are you spending time mentoring so that they (and you) may have “the love of God shed abroad in your heart”?