June 25

Written by Bill Grandi on June 28th, 2019

I’ve been gone all week and without wifi or any internet so this is coming to you a bit late.  I took time each day to have my Quiet Time and record my thoughts. So here you go:

My title for this devotion is Inward Change vs Outward Change.

If you read Our Daily Bread you would have read the story of Savanarola and his followers starting a fire in February 1497. Seems they gathered all the things they thought destroyed the faith of people, things that made them vain, made their faith skin deep. Art, cosmetics, instruments, clothing. They set fire to those things in the square of Florence, Italy.

My take? That may have been well-meaning but missed the point.

We have things today which draw the attention of people away from deepening their faith. Music. Social media. Constant distractions. But gathering all that stuff together and burning them seems to be a bit overkill. When I was in college it was the “in” thing to get rid of so-called secular music. It had all kinds of bad vibes. Especially bad was backward-masking. I thought some of it was bad enough frontwards. Why in the world worry about it being played backwards?

My take? It may be a well-meaning gesture but it misses the point. For example, my college roommate gave in to the pressure of his peers and used his record albums (remember those?) as flying saucers. Then he missed the music and went out and bought them again over time.

As my title indicates there is a difference between inward and outward change. During Communion this past Sunday, I actually talked about this. So much of Christianity is outward-Communion every Sunday (in our case). Giving with the wrong attitude. Going to church. Etc. All outward. Jesus is much more interested in an inward change. One that not only makes a difference but is much more long-lasting. Least more long-lasting than a fire.

“Father, may I exhibit an inward change not just an outward change. May the change involve my heart and thoughts not just the way I act outwardly.”

 

 

2 Comments so far ↓

  1. Thinking sin (sinful thoughts) can be gotten rid of by removing physical distractions from our presence is a huge mistake. Our change, as you state here, Bill, must happen on the inside. When we allow God to work in and through us, we are much less likely to fall prey to temptation.
    Hope you and Jo are doing well!
    Blessings!

  2. floyd says:

    “But God looks at the heart”. I’m convinced that most of the world could win an academy award for their acting abilities.

    The problem with acting is when real stress comes, and it always does, the real person is revealed.

    Thanks for the reminder.