Never have we been so beset with inflammation of the mind. Never have so many been afire with passion, hatred, perversion. It fills mental institutions, hospitals, jails, graves, at a rate unknown in the past. And no wonder – considering the books people read, the magazines they pore over, the television programs they watch, the movies they see, the things they think about. “…as he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). One cannot help the evil thoughts that come, but it is the thoughts we cultivate that make the difference between good or evil. We don’t have to open the door to the devil and say, “Make yourself at home.”
Devotion of the Day
JESUS, MASTER
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord…
Romans 10:9
In his journal, John Wesley tells us that, a few days after Aldersgate, he awoke with “Jesus, Master” in his heart and in his mouth. The true believer acknowledges Jesus not only as His Saviour but as Lord of his life. We have a strange species of believer these days, a believer who confesses Christ as Saviour but whose life rejects Him as Master. The New Testament presents no such anomaly as a Christian who “takes” Christ now for salvation and defers obeying Him as Lord until later, maybe never. The initial confession set forth in our text is “Jesus As Lord.”
If this were made clear to our “prospects” these days, and if they understood that a believer is also expected to be a disciple and a witness, it might drive away some, but we would not be embarrassed by a host of church members who call Him Lord, Lord, and do not His commandments.
John Wesley started right with “Jesus, Master” in His heart as well as in his mouth.