by J. Randal Matheny

Confession time. The daily devotion I send out in Portuguese isn't quite so ... uh, daily. With all the work to do, it sometimes gets scooted off to the side.

So the email I got Sunday made me stop and think.

I couldn't keep from sharing the gladness of the day, for I have an uncle with whom we've been studying some three years, and today he was immersed.

He attributed his decision to having read our weekly church bulletin. It is in this bulletin that I use the messages of [the daily devotional] "God with Us."

On November 2nd I didn't have any material, so I searched out one from 2000, "Biblical Baptism," by Tom Tarbet, which was the spark for my uncle's decision.

So I want to thank you for your work, which helps us greatly and pleases God. [Email was slightly edited for brevity.]

It was that article, not the devotional thoughts, that spurred his uncle's decision.

If you don't get the message, let me spell it out for you.

When I failed to come through with the devotional thought, God used my failure to bring blessing and decision to that man.

This is not a defense of laziness nor a justification for inconsistency in one's work.

Here's the point: If God can do such as this when we drop the ball, what can he do when we are zealous and consistent in the work of the Kingdom?

Such a thought bears a moment's meditation.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Eph. 3:20-21, NASU