Making Good Choices
by Philip Asselin
Do you tend towards hoarding, decluttering, or something in between? I’m the sort of person that wants to get rid of stuff which I can’t see any purpose in keeping. My wife errs more on the side of caution and wants to be certain we can’t find any use for it before disposing if it. Naturally enough, there are times when she refers to something we once had, only to find I have quietly disposed of it.
During 2020, in the UK and many other countries, we have been faced with some most challenging times. The freedom we once had to do whatever we wanted to do, and go wherever we wanted to go, has been curbed, in some cases, quite seriously. Many churches here did not restart after the first Lockdown, many moved to Zoom meetings, some to pre-recorded services without a congregation, and others a mixture of live services mixed with Zoom. That was before the most recent restrictions.
When things start to get back to normal, whatever ‘normal’ will be, we should carefully consider what positive lessons we can learn from this time. What do we need to keep and what do we need to stop doing, or do in a different way? Through it all, God is wanting to teach us things and we have to open our spiritual ears and eyes to understand this.
Our verse today is a call to us to do just that, to put everything to the test. How we are spending our time to ensure it is the most profitable it can be in God’s kingdom? How can we be radical in what we keep or let go of? Simply doing the same things, attending the same meetings, holding the same events, doing Church the same way as we have done before, may need to change. We are to avoid being hoarders of such things and to decide, with God’s help and guidance, to declutter our lives so that we only ‘keep what is good’.
Amongst all the upheaval and concerns of this pandemic, I believe God is challenging us to look at everything with fresh eyes. I pray we will come out of it with renewed focus and energy to reach the lost and those in need in different ways. I believe God is challenging us not to just go back to doing things exactly the way we did at the start of 2020. Let’s prayerfully declutter our lives, keeping only what God shows is good. If we do, then this time will not have been wasted.
Prayer: Dear Lord. I need Your help to focus on my life and understand if there are things I need to stop doing and what I need to start or continue doing. Please reveal to me what needs to change. Help me to have a greater value on what draws me closer to You and Your will for my life. Help me to emerge from this difficult time with renewed focus and energy to reach those in need. Amen.
Philip Asselin Philip is on the associate ministry and teaching teams with Glyndley Manor. He and his wife Gillian attended the second Healing Retreat at Glyndley Manor in 1992, and were greatly helped. They have two grown up children, one grandson, and a step-granddaughter in California, and a daughter and granddaughter in Eastbourne. His desire is to see people healed and set free to serve God.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
