Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: Titus 3:3-8

As we contemplate today’s Scripture, let’s each consider where we were and what our lives were like in the season immediately before we met Jesus. We may not feel as though we were quite as caught up in the power of sin and evil as the people described in Titus 3:3-4, but each of us will be able to acknowledge that this was a season of spiritual separation from God. What was your life like before you surrendered to Jesus? How were you living? To which “passions and pleasures” were you enslaved?

Then consider how Jesus drew near to you. Consider how the Holy Spirit worked gently in your heart to draw you towards Jesus. Try to remember what was happening in your heart and mind as you came closer and closer to the moment of decision. How (and through whom) did His “kindness and love” appear to you?

Then reflect on this beautiful explanation (adapted from Titus 3:5-7 NLT) of what God did in that greatest moment of kindness and love – the moment you turned away from sin and surrendered your life to the saving lordship of Jesus: “He saved me, not because of the righteous things I had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away my sins, giving me a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Holy Spirit upon me through Jesus Christ my Saviour. Because of his grace He made me right in His sight and gave me confidence that I will inherit eternal life.”

This was the moment you experienced the kindness and love of God through Jesus, as He adopted someone as undeserving as you into His Family. And every day since, in many and varied ways, He has continued to express the same kindness and love to you. Today, be alert, pay attention, and take time to identify the ways His kindness touches your life. If we will but notice them, we’ll realise quite how magnificently His kindness manifests in our lives every day.

Thanks be to God for His magnificent kindness and love. Amen.