Daily Reading // Deuteronomy 4-6
(Find the daily reading on Pastor Jim’s Blog)
https://jholm5.wixsite.com/pastor-jim-blog
S // SCRIPTURE
Select a verse from today’s reading
Deuteronomy 4:20 (NKJV) “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.”
O // OBSERVATION
Why did this verse get your attention? Make a simple observation from the text
That phrase “iron furnace” really stuck out to me today.
Here it is referring to their time as slaves in Egypt. That was the iron furnace.
An iron furnace is different from an incinerator. The purpose of a furnace is to purify and shape. An incinerator is for total destruction. But they both use a high heat.
A // APPLICATION
How can I apply this to my life today?
Being in an iron furnace is not necessarily fun. If a furnace is the only way to really be purified and shaped by God, am I willing to endure it?
Shadrach, Meschach and Abed-Nego were thrown into a furnace and Jesus was right there with them.
The heat I may experience in this life is not for destruction but for molding me.
I was at the district conference and one of the speakers said, “We are in a battle ground, not a playground”. Playgrounds are more fun but battlegrounds are where wars are won.
P // PRAYER
Express yourself in prayer
Master Craftsman, I trust Your craftsmanship in me. Amen.