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Men of Integrity, Nov/Dec 2001
Clogged Pipes
Theme for the Week: Holiness and the Spirit
Tuesday, November 13
Key Bible Verse: You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart. … to be my very own (Leviticus 20:26).
Bonus Reading: 1 Peter 1:14-16
A deacon in my congregation grew up in Seattle. His dad used to go off for months at a time on a job in Alaska. When he left, he'd give assignments to his sons. While Dennis was still small, his daily task was to climb the hill behind the house, where the spring filled a water tank, and skim the leaves off the surface so they wouldn't clog the pipe that ran down to the house.
He did that for a time, then he'd skip a day or two. After a while, he just let it go.
When his dad returned, his mother was telling him how things went. She said, "But we do have this problem. We're not getting enough water for this and that."
The father just turned to his young son and said, "Dennis, come along." Up the hill they went to the tank. Leaves had accumulated and plugged up the pipe. After the dad cleaned it off, he sat down with Dennis, explained what he'd failed to do, and held him accountable with fatherly discipline.
Standing in our congregation, Dennis said, "Too often, tragically, I've failed to clean out things in my life to keep the channel open for the Holy Spirit's work."
—Myron Augsburger in Preaching Today
My Response:
One thing that could be hindering the Spirit from breaking through in my life is . …
Thought to Apply:
Holiness means something more than the sweeping away of the old leaves of sin; it means the life of Jesus developed in us.
—Lilias Trotter (missionary)
Adapted from: Preaching Today (43).
Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today, Inc./Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
November/December 2001, Vol. 4, No. 6
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Prayer for the Week |
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Father, motivate me to cooperate with your Spirit to build holiness into my life.
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