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In more than three decades of my Christian life, I have been blest by 2 types of Daily devos'
(matter not exceeding 500 words) in universal Christian literature.
Not only those Devos' which have a different theme everyday but also the ones
which revolve around a certain theme over a period of time, say a fortnight have
richly edified me. In fact, both styles have their own inherent advantages.
If the former style caters to the varying spiritual needs of a christian from day-to-day,
the latter aims 'to ground' a child of God in a certain subject in order he derives the full
benefits of the deep insightful study of a certain topic, spread over a fixed span of time.
In my Daily devo page, I have consciously tried to go in for 'a blend of both the styles'
whereby within a constant theme, I would be aiming to focus on different facets of it which admittedly
is a closer imitation of the 'Constant theme' style than the 'Varying topics' one.
For starters in the first month of January I would be dwelling on the theme of the
"Christian Journey", with the material being arranged in a Book-like format under which the pages
would be opened ( i,e..displayed on-line) on each succeeding day.
So here's wishing you a happy & an edifying read....
Suresh Manoharan
January 1st
Emancipation before embarkation
Israel walking off at the Exodus
On that same day the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of
Egypt by their family groups. Exodus 12:51
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A Christian life has sometimes been equated to a journey by some Biblical scholars. While there is
no dispute on that score, it is pertinent to reflect on the ‘start’ of that journey. Can there be
any journey without ‘a start’? While on the subject of the ‘start’, of all the related questions
(when, where, what, why & how), which would emerge, the question to be stressed on is ‘how’ more
than anything else. Did it begin, because we were born in a Christian family or because the Lord
God delivered us from the bondage of sin at some point of our lives?
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As we have been urged to evaluate our lives vis-à-vis precious lessons of History (I Corinthians 10:11)
let’s consider yet another ‘Grand journey’- that of the emancipated Jews from Egypt to the
Promised Land- which is recorded in the Scriptures & ponder on the similarities between our
journey & that ‘Grand journey’. Why, the very first similarity, which would emerge, is in that
case emancipation preceded embarkation. They were ‘delivered’ from the bondage of slavery to Pharaoh.
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So, as Christians claiming to be on a journey towards our unseen Promised Land (John 14:1-2) better known
as Heaven, lets ponder deeply as to whether in our case too there has been emancipation, in the first
place or not. As people, who are all descendents of the ‘fallen Adam’, inheritors of the ‘sin in our
hearts’, our spirits too consciously or unconsciously pine for freedom from ‘slavery to sin’ & the day
we personally ‘meet our Saviour’, we are ‘delivered from it’. It is on that day we become Christians &
take our first baby steps towards our Promised Land & not when we are born in a Christian family.
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Prayer:
Father, help me evaluate my life & review for myself as to whether my Christian life began when
You delivered me from sins or have I been living under an illusion that I became a Christian from
the moment, I was born in a Christian family. If I have never tasted Thy ‘redemptive power’,
I call upon the name of Jesus to be brought under Thy saving grace. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen
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NEXT......
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