2 Timothy 4:2– Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready] whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.(AMP)
My grandparents used to say “they need to rise above their raising.” This got me thinking about long past days when I used to bake all the family’s bread. Unbaked, rising bread, if punched down, rises again. Some bread gets more punched than others. Some doughs are repeatedly punched down and allowed to rise over three days, not just one! Bread dough only stops getting punched when it gets baked!
Now let’s pretend for a minute that we are bread dough. What if opposition and correction is coming our way, from family, friends? What if it’s even coming from our church! What if someone is trying to convince us, correct us, rebuke us, and warn us? What if it feels like we are being punched down at every turn? What if these people insist on correcting our behaviour? What will we do? Will we keep on being punched? Or will we learn our lesson, move in obedience to the hot oven, and come out perfectly formed, wafting with the fragrance of Christ?
Prayer: Father when we are corrected, please don’t let our pride get in the way of your holiness for our lives. Amen
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