DAY TWENTY-ONE | POWER TO TRANSFORM
“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to have their plows, hoes, axes and sickles sharpened.“
1 Samuel 13:20
In his devotional Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon comments that because they feared that the Israelites would make weapons rather than tools, the Philistines refused to allow them to have their own blacksmiths. Yet, God’s people trusted that all of their tools would be usable as weapons, if they were kept sharp.
Whenever we have work to do, every tool within our reach needs to be ready for use in varied capacities—flexibility and ingenuity can bring nearly anything into service. In our Christian lives as well, preaching, teaching, praying, giving, all must be brought into actions, and talents which may have been thought to be unremarkable must all be employed. Each moment of time, in season or out of season; each fragment of ability, educated or untutored; each opportunity, must be used.
Unfortunately, Spurgeon also observes that most of our tools need sharpening. How many of us pray well, read Scripture enough, spend enough time with Christians who challenge us to think about our faith? It is likely that the more we use the “tools of our faith” we will be more than ready to further God’s work in the future days of our church.
Prayer Focus:
Pray that we will be ready to transform all of the tools we have into whatever they need to be in order for God’s will to be done.
A Prayer from Robert Comeaux:
Father God, as we seek Your face we ask that You would give us a spirit of freedom in the midst of this endeavor. We pray 2 Corinthians 3:17 today, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom.” We pray that You would bring a sweet spirit of freedom over our congregation. We pray that any past hurts or regrets that may find their way into our conversations would be released, and that we would see Your clear vision for a bright future for Dunwoody Baptist Church. We pray that the plans You put on our hearts for our church would be plans that would bring about freedom and clarity in the lives of people who need Your love. Thank You for the privilege of walking in Your Spirit, Amen.