Daily Devotions
House to House
Reading for May 11th: 2 Chronicles 2-5
Weekly reading for May 10-16: Acts 20-24
"You yourselves know how I lived among you... how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house..."
Acts 20:18, 20
Have you ever seen a problem in the church and thought, "We really should have some preaching to fix this (fill-in-the-blank) problem?" I've had several sermon ideas suggested to me.
However, preaching doesn't fix everything. It can do a lot of good (don't get me wrong), but public preaching is rarely as effective as a personal conversation with someone. Like a surgeon trying to do delicate surgery with a hacksaw, public preaching is a blunt instrument.
Paul was not afraid to talk to people personally about sin and their need to repent. He was not obnoxious. He didn't do it with a holier-than-thou, uncaring attitude. He spoke to people with all "humility and tears." (Acts 20:19) And that's why he could later say that he was "innocent of the blood of all." He declared the "whole counsel of God" and he did it both "publicly and from house to house." (Acts 20:26-27).
So, if you know of someone who is not right with God, don't just ask the preacher to deliver a sermon. Go talk to the person in a kind and loving way (Gal 6:1-2; Jas 5:19-20).
Father, help us to love and care for our brothers and sisters enough to go talk with them when they go astray.
