2026-06-30
Prediker 9:10 NLV
Die aktivispad. Wanneer jy op hierdie geestelike pad is, het jy ‘n hoë vlak van energie. Die volgende mag dalk een van jou gunsteling Skrifgedeeltes wees: ‘Doen met toewyding alles wat jou hand vind om te doen…’ Een van die gevare om egter deur die aktivispad met God te skakel, is dat ‘n groot deel van jou beweegrede selfvervulling en selftevredenheid kan wees. Daarom het Paulus geskryf: ‘So moet julle ook, as julle julle toelê op die gawes van die Gees, daarop konsentreer om uit te munt in dié gawes wat die gemeente opbou’ (1 Korintiërs 14:12 NLV).
Wanneer jy ‘n aktivis is, hou jy van ‘n vinnige, probleemgevulde, komplekse, inspannende lewenswyse. Aan die einde van die dag wil jy kan sê: ‘Ek het regtig hard gehardloop. Ek het elke greintjie moeite en ywer tot my beskikking gebruik tot eer van U, God.’ Een Bybelse voorbeeld van ‘n aktivis is Nehemia. Toe hy hoor dat die mure van sy geliefde Jerusalem in puin lê, het hy geween, gebid, die koning gesmeek vir die hulpbronne om dit te herbou en toe sy moue opgerol en aan die werk gespring. As jy ‘n aktivis is, het jy ‘n saak nodig. Daarsonder sal jou geestelike lewe stagneer.
Hier is egter ‘n woord van waarskuwing: Moenie so opgewonde oor jou saak raak dat jy oor mense se koppe gaan of hulle uitbuit nie. Nog ‘n woord van waarskuwing: Wanneer jy ‘n aktivis is, kan dit soms moeilik wees om God se ware roeping van jou eie sterk impulse tot aksie, te onderskei. Indien dit die geval is, neem ekstra tyd om te bid en van God te hoor en maak seker dat jy ‘n gekwalifiseerde vriend in jou lewe het wie se raad jy kan vertrou.
Sielskos: 1 Sam 18:1-20:29; Matt 23:13-22; Ps 95; Spr 16:31-33
Ecclesiastes 9:10 NKJV
The activist pathway. When you’re on this spiritual pathway, you have a high level of energy. This may be one of your favourite Scriptures: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.” But one of the dangers of relating to God best through the activist pathway is that a big chunk of your motivation can be self-fulfillment and self-satisfaction. Hence Paul wrote: “Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church” (1 Corinthians 14:12 NLT).
When you are an activist, you love a fast-paced, problem-filled, complex, strenuous way of life. At the end of the day, you want to be able to say, “I ran really hard. I used every ounce of effort and zeal at my disposal, and it’s all for You, God.” One biblical example of an activist is Nehemiah. When he heard that the walls of his beloved Jerusalem were in ruins, he wept, he prayed, he petitioned the king for the resources to rebuild them, and then he rolled up his sleeves and went to work. If you are an activist, you need a cause. Without it, your spiritual life will stagnate.
But here is a word of caution: Don’t get so excited about your cause that you run over people or exploit them. And here’s another word of caution: If you are an activist, you may have a hard time discerning God’s true calling from your own strong impulses to action. If that’s the case, take added time to pray and hear from God and have a qualified friend in your life whose counsel you trust.
Soul food: 1 Sam 18:1-20:29; Matt 23:13-22; Ps 95; Prov 16:31-33
2026-06-29
Psalm 122:1 NKJV
The worship pathway. When you’re on the worship pathway, you resonate with the Psalmist: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.'” Something deep inside you feels released when praise is given. Your heart opens up and you come alive. You find yourself in tears, sometimes in moments of deep joy, because God seems so close. But here are two cautions if you’re on this pathway:
(1) Don’t judge people who are not as outwardly expressive as you. Some of them grew up in churches where no one raised a finger, let alone a hand in worship.
(2) Guard against an experience-based spirituality that has you always looking for the next “worship high.” C. S. Lewis wrote about the fatal sin of saying, “Encore!” by demanding that God reproduce an experience or an emotion. He said that of all prayers, this may be the one God is least likely to grant because it can lead us to worship an experience rather than the God to whom our experience points. Music, for instance, can be a great gift to worship.
But because music affects our feelings so powerfully, we can grow dependent on it to produce a certain emotional response. In this case, you may need to spend some time worshiping God without music, so that your worship is based on who God is and not a matter of getting swept up in certain sounds. Also, you may need to engage more in Bible study so that your heart is deeply rooted in the knowledge of God.
Soul food: 1 Sam 16-17; Matt 23:1-12; Ps 64; Prov 16:27-30
Psalm 122:1 NLV
Die aanbiddingspad. Wanneer jy op die aanbiddingspad is, vind jy aanklank by die Psalmdigter: “Ek was bly toe hulle vir my gesê het: ‘Kom ons gaan na die huis van die Here.'” Iets diep binne jou voel of dit vrygemaak word wanneer jy die Here lofprys. Jou hart gaan oop en jy word lewendig. Jy bevind jouself in trane en ander kere in oomblikke van diepe vreugde, want God voel so naby. Hier is egter twee waarskuwings as jy op hierdie pad is:
1) Moenie mense oordeel wat nie so openlik uiting aan hulle gevoelens gee nie. Sommige van hulle het grootgeword in kerke waar niemand ‘n vinger opgesteek het nie, wat nog te sê van ‘n hand in aanbidding.
2) Waak teen ‘n geestelikheid wat net op ervarings gebaseer word en jou altyd na die volgende ‘aanbiddingshoogtepunt’ laat soek. C.S. Lewis het ons gewaarsku oor die noodlottige sonde om die heeltyd ‘Encore!’ te sê en te eis dat God ‘n ervaring of ‘n emosie moet reproduseer. Hy het gesê dat van alle gebede, God die minste geneig mag wees om hierdie gebed te verhoor, omdat dit kan veroorsaak dat ons die ervaring, eerder as God, begin aanbid.
Omdat musiek ons gevoelens so kragtig beïnvloed, kan ons daarvan afhanklik raak om ‘n sekere emosionele reaksie te produseer. In hierdie geval moet jy dalk tyd bestee om God sonder musiek te aanbid, sodat jou aanbidding op wie God is gebaseer word en dit nie net ‘n geval is waar jy deur sekere klanke meegesleur word nie. Jy moet dalk ook probeer om meer Bybelstudie te doen, sodat jou hart diep in die kennis van God gewortel is.
Sielskos: 1 Sam 16-17; Matt 23:1-12; Ps 64; Spr 16:27-30
2026-06-28
Psalm 119:59 NKJV
The serving pathway. On the serving pathway, you find God’s presence seems most tangible when you’re helping others. You identify with the words of Jesus: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these… you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40 NKJV). And you may find that you are uncomfortable in a setting where you don’t have a role to play or a service to perform.
An example of this would be Dorcas, whom the Bible says, “was full of good works and charitable deeds” (Acts 9:36 NKJV). Mother Teresa would be a modern counterpart to Dorcas. She said the primary reason she was so involved in serving was not that it was something she was supposed to do, but that it brought her joy. She often felt her own inadequacy when she was alone; but she never felt the presence of Jesus more strongly than in the presence of those she served. President Jimmy Carter has probably inspired more people as an ex-president than he did while he was in office because of his passion for servanthood through such channels as Habitat for Humanity.
People on this pathway find that if they’re just attending church but have no place to serve, God begins to feel distant. They need to be “plugged in.” Two dangers faced if you are in the serving pathway are: (1) You will be tempted to judge others who don’t seem to be serving as much as you do. (2) You can get caught up in being God’s servant and forget that you’re His beloved and redeemed child. Hence you have to stretch by learning to receive love as well as to offer it.
Soul food: Matt 5:7; Ps 103:8-18; 1 Pet 1:3
