Category: Devotion of the Day

ITCHING EARS AND BURNING HEARTS

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.
II Timothy 4:3

Did not your hearts burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures? Luke 24:32

It is a day of itching ears. Men chase popular preachers who can entertain. Religion is just another fad. And not a few Christians who pass as lovers of sound doctrine cannot endure its application, but move from preacher to preacher, church to church, listening to their pet Pal or Apollos or Cephas. A lot of what goes for Bible teaching and evangelism is but religious entertainment. Men are not moved within to the point of obedience. They have itching ears.

We need an outbreak of holy heartburn, when hearers shall be doers, when congregations shall go out from meetings to do things for God and men instead of pleasantly gossiping while the fowls of the air snatch up the seed of the Word.

God move us from itching-ear retreats to burning-heart revivals!”

STEPPING IN THE LIGHT

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.
Colossians 2:6

God would not have us merely “take a stand,” He would have us walk. Too many have taken a stand and are still standing; for years they have made to progress. The New Testament makes much of our walk. We walk by faith, not by sight. We are to walk in the light, walk in love, walk in newness of life, walk worthy of our vocation, walk circumspectly, walk worthy of the Lord, walk honestly, walk in the truth, walk as He walked. The Christian life begins with a step of faith – “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord” – and it proceeds step by step – “so walk ye in him.”

We are inclined to take a stand and at best strive to maintain it instead of walking daily with God like Enoch. Faith grows as we go. And don’t let your tongue get too far ahead of your feet. Let your walk match your talk!