OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-
SATURDAY, MAY 10
Topic: CONSCIENCE
Memorise: How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews
9:14
Read: Romans 1:18-32.
Bible in a Year: Genesis 21-23;
Psalm 103:1-10
Message:
Conscience is an internal judge
examining all that you do or say. It cries out before any wrong-doing. It does
not keep quiet during the act and keeps on talking even after the act. Every
man has a conscience. This fact is pointed out in 2 Corinthians 4:2. The
conscience can exist in different states. These states affect the character
exhibited by the conscience. Based on this character, the conscience can
manifest itself as any of these: evil conscience, convicted conscience, weak
conscience, good conscience and conscience devoid of offence. Consequent upon
the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man’s conscience became darkened and
defiled. Our Bible reading for today tells the terrible story of what happens
when the conscience becomes defiled, depraved and evil. It is an evil
conscience that directs a man to bow down and worship an idol. It is an evil
conscience that accuses a man of being anti-social when he refuses to entertain
others with alcoholic drinks or partake in an immoral gathering. The conscience
becomes convicted when a man hears the gospel of Jesus and the Holy Spirit
quickens the word in the heart. When the hearer receives the word, he does one
of two things: either he yields to the working of the Holy Spirit or he excuses
himself (Romans 2:15). If he yields to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he
begins to feel sorrowful for his sins and soon, he is on his way to repentance.
Have you yielded to the prompting of the Holy Spirit? The conscience becomes
purged when a man yields to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and his awakened
conscience puts pressure on him to conform to God’s stand on sin and
righteousness. He begins to realise the evil of a depraved conscience, and this
conviction leads to conversion or salvation. Such a person has his conscience
purged and he begins to find joy in serving the living God. Conversion is
therefore the recreation of a conscience which has long been silenced. A young
convert will however find out that his conscience is still too weak to be
relied upon (1 Corinthians 8:7). Such weak conscience may accept anything that
is “not too bad”; ignoring the fact that anything that is not too bad is
definitely not good. This weakness can be overcome by prayer, Bible study and
constant obedience. To a sinner, the conscience is a burden; but to the saved,
the conscience is a help, a friend to know, to love and a messenger from God
which constantly reminds him of God’s standard, which is perfection (Matthew
5:48). The desire of God for every born-again believer is to have a good
conscience (1 Timothy 1:5). One of the highest goals of a Christian life is to
have a conscience devoid of offence toward God and toward men (Acts 24:16).
Prayer Point: I apply the blood
of Jesus in cleansing my conscience from all dead works, in Jesus’ Name.
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