Dial Daily Bread

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":

One of the tabloids in our supermarket has lurid pictures of a monstrous meteor that
it says is fated to strike the world soon. The article contains a pre-written prayer
by a Roman Catholic priest or if you prefer, one written by the Rev. for God to
protect you when it strikes. The expensive price of the tabloid becomes cheap if
either prayer turns out to be effective.

If our “soul-winning” ministry is likewise based on a fear motivation, Jesus asks a
pointed question: “What do ye more than others?” The other side of that motivation
coin is hope for a reward we get for making sacrifices to follow Jesus. He asks,
“Do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:47, 46). If a thinly disguised love of
self is the reason for our Christianity, how is it practically better than Buddhism
or Hinduism? If skillfully manipulated, preaching an egocentric motivation may result
in large accessions in church membership, but is this appropriate for the great Day
of Atonement in which we live--this “time of the end” that Daniel emphasizes
(8:14; 11:35, 12:4)?

In His work as our great High Priest, the Son of God is seeking to separate our
character from an Old to a New Covenant motivation. The appropriate one is not so
much our love for Christ as a growing heart appreciation of His love for us. It
alone “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). When we “survey the wondrous cross on which the
Prince of glory died,” His love (agape) expels from the heart our native
self-centeredness (2 Cor. 5:14, 15). 

Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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