August 13
Job 4-5
Psalm 90:13-17
Proverbs 20:12-13
2 Corinthians 3
Tablets of Human Hearts
“You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”
2 Corinthians 3:2-5 NIV
Our lives are our testimony to the world. Our words, actions, lifestyle, and countenance all reflect who we are. They are known and read by everyone. Whether we realize it or not, we are being watched. It is really creepy to me when I have a conversation with someone about something random and a little while later an ad for that very thing pops up on my phone. Siri is definitely watching everything I do and listening to what I say. It is a little scary when Siri does it, but it is sobering to realize that we are being watched by people as well. Our nonbelieving friends are watching us to see if our lives really are different from theirs. They want to know if this Jesus we keep talking about has any effect on our lives. Our Christian friends are watching us, too, because they want an example to follow. Our kids are watching us, even though they would vehemently deny that they are. Our coworkers are watching to see how we respond to our unreasonable boss or that annoying client. The waitress at the restaurant and the clerk at the grocery store are watching to see if we are impatient and rude like most of their other customers. What are we reflecting? Is Jesus evident in what we say and do? Does our countenance exude joy and peace or something else entirely?
Thankfully, Paul didn’t just stop at telling us that we are being watched by everyone. I don’t know about you, but that is intimidating. Verse 5 tells us that the confidence we have is not in our own competence, but rather our competence comes from God. We cannot possibly hope to have a testimony that is worthy of Christ. Our actions and words are not going to be perfect, and they don’t have to be. But when people look at our lives, if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, they will see the difference Jesus makes. He is in the process of writing His story on the tablets of our hearts. He is working in our lives to mold us and make us into His image. It is important that we be mindful of the fact that our lives are on display. We all have bad days here and there, but we need to periodically examine our lives to see if the testimony we are giving reflects a consistent relationship with Christ. Prayerful reflection can allow God to gently prompt us to make necessary changes.
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