Philippians 2:14-16—”Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Where you have woken up this morning, there you are meant to be. Do you like your family, your school, your college, your job, your relationships, your strengths, and other things that you possess? Second question: in the place or situation where you are planted, are you being all you can be? In other words, do you work for earthly approval and accolades, or do you work according to the best of the talents apportioned to you to praise God and bring Him glory? Another situation is that we do our work at home or in the office, school, or college but sprinkled with grumbling, complaining and disputing. Where is our gratefulness for the blessing that we have, the role that we have?
The equation is very simple – we are put on this earth with a divine plan. If we obey the Word, we will be tuned to the Holy Spirit and therefore will automatically follow the divine plan for our lives. This can only lead to success and in turn prosperity and happiness (Joy of the Lord). However, it is not easy because we are not promised a path of roses all the way. We have been promised that God will be with us always – Immanuel. So when we:
– sidetrack from our divine plan due to disobedience of the Word,
– backslide in our relationship with God,
– prioritize earthly tasks and to-dos over prayer time and reading the Word of God that changes us, we are prone to sin and to be one among the world. We allow a rift between us and God which the devil and his evil, who is scouring the place, will surely use as a foothold to wedge himself in.
Instead of not being happy, grumbling or not doing our best, if we praise God for our every blessing – where He has placed us, our given talents, our provision, our safety, and all the other things – we will see our paths becoming straight and easy because God lives in our praises. He provides. He heals. He makes us excel. He gives strength, wisdom, knowledge, etc. How then can we fail? We will be the lights in the world in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation because of holding fast to the Word of life. Learn the Word, use the Word and live by the Word to be a light in this corrupt world.
