Author: Nathaniel Colt

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Read: John 8:1–9

Some religious leaders brought a woman caught sinning to Jesus. The Law said her life could be ended because of what she had done. The leaders came before Jesus to test Him and see what He would say should happen. Instead of responding to the Pharisees’ anger and accusation, Jesus stayed mostly silent and wrote in the dirt. After Jesus told the religious leaders that the person who had never sinned should be the first one to throw a stone at her, they all left.

Jesus’ way of handling this reminded the Pharisees that they needed to show mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is showing another person forgiveness or compassion when they have done something wrong. Maybe you’ve seen someone break a rule, and you want them to be punished. But like Jesus, Christians need to see people as more than rule breakers; we need to see them as people who deserve the kind of mercy we have received. Jesus loves others just like He loves us. If His forgiveness has changed us for the better, we should offer that same mercy to others.

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Read: Psalm 15

How can we enter the presence of God? He is holy, clean, and pure, so we can’t enter into His presence unless we have been washed clean on the inside. The good news is that Jesus has made the way for us to do that. When we repent and ask for forgiveness for the wrong things we’ve done, He washes us clean. Jesus washes away our sins so we can be with Him.

But that doesn’t mean we’re perfect going forward. Every day is a challenge to stay away from the sin that keeps us from Jesus. We avoid gossip and other things that don’t show love to our neighbors. We stay away from people who encourage us to sin and surround ourself with people who try to live faithfully and committed to God. When we remove sin from our life and humbly ask God to keep us clean, we can enter His presence. God’s presence is the best place to be because it is full of everything He is: love, joy, peace, faith, healing, and hope.

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Read: Ephesians 4:21–24

You have probably seen a caterpillar crawling on a leaf. When the time is right, that caterpillar will spin a cocoon around itself. Later, it will transform into a butterfly and emerge as its new self. It won’t do the things it used to do anymore. Butterflies don’t crawl along the ground, but instead, they have wings to fly. Even its diet changes from leaves to sweet nectar. A new life calls for a new way of living for the butterfly.

The same should be true of us when Jesus enters our life. We stop some of the things that we used to do. We must let the Holy Spirit living in us work in and through us to change the way we do everything—even down to the words we say and the thoughts we think. Sin is left behind, so like a butterfly, we can soar to the new plans and purposes God has for us.

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Read: Mark 11:18–19

The religious leaders had heard about Jesus turning over tables and clearing out the temple. Instead of realizing that Jesus’ actions were good, they plotted to kill Jesus. When Jesus ran those selling animals for sacrifices out of the temple, most likely it cut into the money the religious leaders were getting as the ones in charge of the temple. Instead of learning, they responded with anger.

How do you react when the adults in your life correct you? Do you argue and try to explain away what you did? Or do you recognize their authority and humbly accept the loving correction they give you? When we are corrected, we have to ask forgiveness with our words, and we have to mean it in our heart. God’s correction makes us clean.

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Read: Mark 11:15–17

In the Bible, the temple was the sacred and holy place where God would be close to His people. The temple was built of the finest materials because God deserved that. In the temple, God wanted everything to remain sacred and treated with honor. Why? God is holy,  pure, and without sin, and He wanted His people to know that where they came to worship Him should be pure and clean as well.

We can understand Jesus’ anger when He saw that people were using His Father’s house as a place to buy and sell. His Father’s house was meant to be sacred and honored. Like the temple in the Bible, our heart is a place where God lives. Just like greedy people buying and selling brought “dirt” into God’s house, sin is what makes our heart dirty. But when our heart is clean and pure, we can have the kind of home that God deserves. Our heart will be clean and pure when we ask God to forgive us for the wrong things we’ve done.

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Read: 2 Corinthians 9:10–13

The things God has given to you aren’t meant for you alone. When you give of your money, your local church can grow, and the kingdom of God can grow around the world. When you give of your time, people will know that you care. You will be sharing the love of Jesus with them. When you give of your talents, you’re using the skills and gifts God has given you to help other people see Him. When we give back the things God has given to us, God is glorified and made known.

The Bible helps us to understand that when we live generously, not only will people’s needs be met, but also they will thank God and come to know who He is. Living generously with your gifts isn’t about you. It’s about making Jesus known to others. It’s about helping others understand the generous love of God because they’ve seen His generosity in you.

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Read: 2 Corinthians 9:6–7

Imagine that your parents just bought a cool device that you’ve wanted for a while. Imagine they just threw it on the couch next to you and said, “I didn’t really want to get this for you, but I did.” How would you feel? Maybe you would feel awkward or hurt. Even if the device they gave you was cool, it wouldn’t mean much if it wasn’t given to you with the right attitude. Now imagine the same situation just a little different. Instead of them throwing it on the couch and saying they had to give it to you, they took the time to wrap it nicely. Imagine they planned the perfect time to give it to you and they said, “We knew you would love this, and we really want to give it to you.” That would make a big difference, right?

The attitude in which we give our time, money, and talents to God is just as important as what we give. Giving with a bad attitude is a sign of a bad relationship with God. Our giving should come out of our love for Him. God wants us to give as part of our worship to Him. He also wants us to give with a cheerful attitude because we want to, not because we have to.

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Read: Matthew 25:19–30

Maybe you’ve learned how to ride a bike with training wheels. When you’ve learned to ride that well, someone takes off the training wheels. Then, you learn how to balance the bike on two wheels. After riding a bicycle for a long time, you may get to drive something bigger, like a scooter or a golf cart. Then, when you turn the right age and you take some classes and have lots of practice, you’re trusted to drive a car. Most people usually don’t jump straight to driving a car. By the time you do, you’ve usually proven yourself to be trustworthy to handle a vehicle.

This is similar to how it works with the gifts God gives us. In Jesus’ parable, the master represents God and we’re the servants. God gives us gifts—time, skills, and money—that we can use for Him. And as Jesus’ parable explains, if you do a good job with what God gives you, He will give you more. We can show God that we can be trusted to handle bigger things. When He knows that He can trust us to use what He gives us for His honor, He will trust us with even more.