Nov 06

Another example of how it is God himself who gives us the desire to serve him is found in 2 Cor. 8:16, 17. There Paul speaks of Titus, who, he says, is coming to the Christians in Corinth "with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative" (v. 17).

This might sound, at first, like a contradiction to what has been said here about God supplying such initiative and not being something that rises up out of our hearts.

But, no, verse 16 states clearly that it is God "who put into the heart of Titus" this desire. In other words, Titus, of his own free will has decided to go minister to the Corinthians, but the deeper reality is that God first took the initiative of conforming the heart of Titus to the heart of Jesus, and then the free-will initiative of Titus arises out of that first initiative of God.

God always takes the initiative. Anything that we call our own initiative is only a response to God's working beforehand in us. Scripture is full of references to this deep truth. There is no contradiction between free will and God's prior purposes. When our hearts are bound to Jesus, our spirit to his, those hearts become one and the amazing power of God to reconcile seeming opposites is made known in ministry to a hurting world.

Scripture for today: 2 Corinthians 8:16, 17
Thought for today: God always takes the initiative; I have the free will to respond to his initiative if I so choose.
Prayer for today: Lord, grant me a heart that always wants to respond in joy and love to your initiatives in my life.

NOV 06