October 14
“Now sin has marred God's perfect work, yet that handwriting remains. Even now all created things declare the glory of His excellence. There is nothing, save the selfish heart of man, that lives unto itself. No bird that cleaves the air, no animal that moves upon the ground, but ministers to some other life. There is no leaf of the forest, or lowly blade of grass, but has its ministry. Every tree and shrub and leaf pours forth that element of life without which neither man nor animal could live; and man and animal, in turn, minister to the life of tree and shrub and leaf. The flowers breathe fragrance and unfold their beauty in blessing to the world. The sun sheds its light to gladden a thousand worlds. The ocean, itself the source of all our springs and fountains, receives the streams from every land, but takes to give. The mists ascending from its bosom fall in showers to water the earth, that it may bring forth and bud.
The angels of glory find their joy in giving,--giving love and tireless watchcare to souls that are fallen and unholy. Heavenly beings woo the hearts of men; they bring to this dark world light from the courts above; by gentle and patient ministry they move upon the human spirit, to bring the lost into a fellowship with Christ which is even closer than they themselves can know.”
Desire of Ages, page 20 from the chapter, 'God with us'
What are we here on this earth for? Apart from the prime directive, to worship God, we are here to serve. That, of course, takes a certain attitude adjustment to put into action.
The passage does point out that ultimately we are selfish and that we are going to set out to look after ourselves first. The reality is outlined, but we aren’t described as hopeless cases. A different path is outlined for us.
We could choose to focus on the terrible things we see in the world. The devastating cyclone in India, the stampede in that same country where many lives were lost. Deaths in the Mediterranean of people fleeing oppression and economic poverty.
We could do the same as angels do. I love the description of those angels and am moved to set out to try and duplicate their actions and their calling.
The angels, “woo the hearts of men; they bring to this dark world light from the courts above”.
It might be that you meet someone today who is feeling rather down and wants to express the dire state of the world. You might think first of saying, “The end of the world is nigh”, but instead you might choose to do as those heavenly beings do. Set out to bring the lost into fellowship with Christ. Bring a very positive message of hope. That the world is not all decay but rather that even the thorns have roses.
Housekeeping details for you
The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.
A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here
From October 21st this site will continue going through 'Desire of Ages' - but begin to advance rather faster than one paragraph at a time.
Our sister site, at the Upper Room, will progress at a rather slower pace - one paragraph at a time. If you want to head to our sister site for the slower trip through an excellent book you will eventually follow a link to the Upper Room. This will start on October 21st.
