Sunday, September 15th

If I slip into the place that can be filled

      by Christ alone,

making myself the first necessity to

   a soul instead of leading it to

     fasten upon Him,

then I know nothing of Calvary love.

 

If by Amy Carmichael

 

 

Sometimes it becomes so easy for others to lean upon us.  We become their counselors and guides.  This is not wrong; it is absolutely necessary to disciple young Christians and teach them the right ways to serve the Lord.  However, sometimes in the process of training young ones in the Lord, we become more than just a counselor.  We unknowingly allow ourselves to become someone's rock.  I'll share my own testimony to illustrate this.  Most of you know that I was raised in a Southern Baptist church.  My parents did not attend church at all.  But, my next-door-neighbor loved me and had a burden for my soul.  Though I made a profession of faith in Christ as a little girl, I did not come to know the Lord as my Savior until I was 21-years-old.  Pastor Stockton and I began attending Cornerstone Baptist Church and after doubting my salvation for a while, I went forward and gave my heart to Christ.  My pastor's wife became precious to me.  I had so many questions---and so many doubts, too.  I was truly a very insecure young Christian; genuinely a fragile babe in Christ.  Though I sought her counsel constantly, she never grew weary of my constant neediness.  One day though, after bringing her my concerns and my burdens, she very plainly said to me, "You need to seek God's counsel in this.  I am not your Savior, Kim, and I cannot take the place of Christ."  I was stung by what I considered a rebuke, but I realized that she was right.  I had been bringing my cares and burden to her and not to the Lord.  She had unknowingly allowed me to place her in a position that only my Savior should be.


Be careful, girls.  Never look to another human being as infallible and do not allow yourselves to become someone's rock.

Scripture Reading for the Day:

Proverbs 15
John 16