[Wednesday's Devotional] - Don't trust in your Reputation

“I see right through your work. You have a reputation for vigour and zest, but you’re dead, stone-dead.

“Up on your feet! Take a deep breath! Maybe there’s life in you yet. But I wouldn’t know it by looking at your busywork; nothing of God’s work has been completed. Your condition is desperate. Think of the gift you once had in your hands, the Message you heard with your ears—grasp it again and turn back to God.

“If you pull the covers back over your head and sleep on, oblivious to God, I’ll return when you least expect it, break into your life like a thief in the night.

Revelation 3: 1b-3 [The Message]

 

What is your reputation like?  Are you resting on a good reputation or struggling to improve a damaged one?  The church in Sardis appears to have been resting on its reputation.  A good reputation is a treasure of high value - but it is not a guarantee of future performance or salvation. We are busy doing our “busywork” but how much of God’s work have we completed?

 

Action:

Consider how your reputation compares to the way God sees you.  If you have a good reputation, can you do something to complete one small part of God’s work today?  Evaluate the gifts you have been given and take stock of how you are using them.  If you are a teacher, teach a valuable lesson; if there is someone in your family or neighbourhood who needs help, set aside some time to do something or say something that makes a difference to them – it doesn’t matter if nobody knows about it, in fact that is the best way.

 

Prayer:

Lord, open my eyes to see the needs of those around me.  Help me to build a reputation based on the gifts you have given me.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan