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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.
Having dwelt on the topics
- “The Christian journey”
- “ The Conquest of Canaan” and the
- “Lent season”.
in the previous months, now in the months of April and May, considering that
post resurrection of Christ (one of our concluding themes’ you would remember
in the meditations of March, was Resurrection), birth of the Church was a
landmark event in Biblical history, I want to cast the spotlight on the Book of
Acts (which records the birth and growth of the Church). This would ensure to a large
extent continuity of thought albeit under the ambit of new subject.
Once again, let me wish you a happy and an edifying read…
Suresh Manoharan
37th Lent Day
The road-map of Gospel proclamation
“…And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in
Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”
– Acts 1:8
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If projects of modern-day corporate world (limited in their significance viewed in the
light of Eternity) are launched with a road map, then can a project of Eternal significance -
“Gospel proclamation to the ends of the world” - be ever launched without a proper road map?
Firstly, for the uninitiated Gospel (truncated word for the phrase “Good spell” meaning Good News.
It is the rendering of the Greek word evangelion, i.e., “good message.”) proclamation stripped of
all its fanciful strap pings is as simple as telling everyone what Jesus has done in ones life much
in the same way a terminally ill cancer patient operated upon and healed by a Doctor would tell others’
of his/her Doctor’s wondrous surgical skills. Then again, just as a patient who had a brush with death
would do this passionately, starting with his family members and then relay these news all on his own
in ever-widening circles, we too who have tasted His redemptive love and have been saved from far worse
‘eternal death’ are called to testify in a centrifugal manner about our ‘experience’ beginning with our
family members, first.
Now coming to the Road map (both literal and figurative) which Jesus’ laid before his disciples,
note Jesus in the above-captioned scripture portion in italics put Jerusalem first (for us Jerusalem
equivalent is our own unsaved family members) signifying that his disciples were to start the work of
relaying the Good news of Jesus’ saving power right at the place of their stay and then proceed onto other
places…yes… “even to the ends of the world”.
That we are reading this piece, most probably in a place faraway from Jerusalem is proof enough
of the fact that Jesus’ disciples-their many weaknesses’ aside- did a commendable job, when it
came to adhering to the Divine Road map laid before them! How are we faring on the Gospel
proclamation front?
Prayer:
Father, we recognize the fact that Gospel proclamation is a sacred duty; we have been called to do. Enable
us to look out for opportunities to talk about the saving grace of your Son to all, who have
not yet “tasted” the same. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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