A Devotion May Be Someone's Only Bible

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The City Slicker and the Farm

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.  Philippians 2:12 NIV

Photo courtesy of pixabay.A city slicker inherits a farm from a distant relative. He doesn’t have to pay taxes. They were taken care of by his long-lost but generous relative. No one can take the farm from him. He doesn’t have to do anything to get the farm except accept the free gift.

He is excited about his new farm and tells everyone about this wonderful gift, but he’s never been a farmer before and doesn’t know the first thing about farming. He doesn’t know how to use the tools and equipment. He doesn’t know what to plant, when to plant, or how to plant. Even though the farm belongs to him, he doesn’t know how to make the most of it.

The man has a choice. He can enjoy knowing he owns the farm or he can learn how to make the most of it. Either way, the farm belongs to him. Yet if learns how to farm, he can make the farm more fruitful for himself and for others.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I thought salvation was a free gift so that no man could boast, but then I wondered what this verse was talking about. I prayed and asked God to clarify it. As a speech pathologist and a teacher, I know if you can’t explain something to someone else then you probably don’t understand it completely yourself.

Being a Christian is much the same as the city slicker. We can choose to learn how to use our wonderful gift of salvation so that we can become more fruitful for God, so that we can become the person He created us to be, and so that we can complete our puzzle as God intended.

We can also choose to accept the gift but not dig further to understand the true meaning of God’s gift. We won’t be as fruitful—and we may miss many of the blessings God wants to give us—but we are still Christians, no matter what our choice is.

God always gives you a choice. Ask Him to help you choose the best option. 

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)


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Lillian Duncan

Lillian lives in a small town in Ohio with her husband. She writes the types of books she loves to read—fast-paced suspense and mystery, with a touch or two of romance that demonstrates God’s love for all of us. She was a school speech pathologist for thirty years but retired after being diagnosed with bilateral brain tumors due to Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), a rare genetic disease. Whether as an educator, a writer, or a speech pathologist, she believes in the power of words—especially God’s Word—to transform lives. To learn more about Lillian and her books, visit: www.lillian-duncan.com.