Devotion: Arthur Guinness' Service to God

"As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." 1 Peter 4.10

Arthur Guinness was a man in, but not of the world.  His internal orientation was determined by God’s word not by the whims and fancies of the world. Arthur’s father was a brewer in Ireland in the 1700s. His father taught him the art of brewing, and as a young man Arthur struck out on his own. He developed a dark beer that became very popular in his own day and is still very popular today. By the time he died the Guinness brewery had become one of the most respected breweries in the world. But that’s not the end of Arthur Guinness’ story by any means. Guinness was a devout member of the Church of Ireland. He was a champion of the Sunday School movement in Ireland. He worked for prison reform. He even supported the movement to grant freedom to the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland though he himself was a protestant. He hired a doctor who helped to improve the health and living conditions of the people of Ireland. Would that more people who enjoy Guinness beer today know that man who was behind it! They would know that you can be part of the world and yet more importantly... but not of it.

Prayer:  Dear God, thank You for all the gifts and abilities You have given me. Most of all thank You for the gift of faith in Jesus. As He has saved me from my sin, so use my life to show others the truth and goodness of Jesus that they might also believe, be saved, and serve. Amen.

Hymn:  Christ Be My Leader, Timothy Dudley-Smith, b. 1926  Listen

Christ be my leader by night as by day;
safe through the darkness for he is the way.
Gladly I follow, my future his care,
darkness is daylight when Jesus is there.

Christ be my teacher in age as in youth,
drifting or doubting, for he is the truth.
Grant me to trust him, though shifting as sand,
doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand.

Christ be my Savior in calm as in strife;
death cannot hold me, for he is the life.
Nor darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain
can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.

Devotion Excerpted from "I Don't Fit Into This World, And That's Okay" 1 Peter 2.9-12, Fifth Sunday of Easter, May 18, 2014