September 21, 2020 8:00 pm
What a waste of time! thought Harley. Her insurance agent was insisting they meet again. Harley knew it would be yet another boring sales pitch, but she decided to make the most of it by looking for an opportunity to talk about her faith.
Noticing that the agent’s eyebrows were tattooed, she hesitantly asked why and discovered that the woman did it because she felt it would bring her luck. Harley’s question was a risky detour from a routine chat about finances, but it opened the door to a conversation about luck and faith, which gave her an opportunity to talk about why she relied on Jesus. That “wasted” hour turned out to be a divine appointment.
Jesus also took a risky detour. While traveling from Judea to Galilee, He went out of His way to speak to a Samaritan, something unthinkable for a Jew. Worse, she was an adulterous woman avoided even by other Samaritans. Yet He ended up having a conversation that led to the salvation of many (John 4:1–4, 39–42).
Are you meeting someone you don’t really want to see? Do you keep bumping into a neighbor you normally avoid? The Bible reminds us to be always ready—“in season and out of season”—to share the good news (2 Timothy 4:2). Consider taking a “risky detour.” Who knows, God may be giving you a divine opportunity to talk to someone about Him today!
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Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Today's reading, titled A Risky Detour, was written by Lesley Coe. What a waste of time, thought Harley. Her insurance agent was insisting they meet again. Harley knew it would be yet another boring sales pitch, but she decided to make the most of it by looking for an opportunity to talk about her faith. Noticing that the agent's eyebrows were tattooed, she hesitantly asked why and discovered that the woman did it because she felt it would bring her luck. Harley's question was a risky detour from a routine chat about finances, but it opened the door to a conversation about luck and faith, which gave her an opportunity to talk about why she relied on Jesus.
That wasted hour turned out to be a divine appointment. Jesus also took a risky detour. While traveling from Judea to Galilee, he went out of his way to speak to a Samaritan, something unthinkable for a Jew. Worse, she was an adulterous woman avoided even by other Samaritans. Yet, he ended up having a conversation that led to the salvation of many. Are you meeting someone you don't really want to see? Do you keep bumping into a neighbor you normally avoid? 2 Timothy chapter 4 reminds us to be always ready, in season and out of season, to share the good news. Consider taking a risky detour.
Who knows? God may be giving you a divine opportunity to talk to someone about Him today. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 through 5. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I give you this charge. Preach the word.
Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Let's pray. Jesus, it's so encouraging to know that you are in control of every situation. Help us not become agitated when our plan for the day doesn't go the way we expect. But trust that you are at work in it and leading us in another direction for our good or maybe for the benefit of someone else. Help us to always be looking for how you may be working and for the opportunity to share your love with others. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-29 17:59:19 / 2024-02-29 18:00:51 / 2