Sunday 28 Oct 2012

Sunday Reading: Proverbs 10:2-3

Key Verse: Proverbs 10:3
3  The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

Devotion:
The age old question – will riches make you happy? Yes it is true that having riches will allow you to buy things and many people will count that as being happy or fulfilled in some manner. I beg to differ. And then there are the many people who will look at verses like these and say that God is going to allow them to be prosperous because He will not allow them to go hungry; or other strange arguments based on single verses. The proverbs are not a law unto themselves or a means to an end for all your woes – they are just a part of God’s Word, just like the other parts.

Our God is God of gods. He is Creator of everything. There is nothing that He cannot do! His promises are exactly that and we need to make sure that we do not doubt that there is anything that He cannot do; but equally we have to make sure we never forget that God is Holy and Just. We are the weak ones who will always trip up and fall over various temptations whereas He continues to uphold absolute righteousness. It is the Righteousness of Jesus Christ that has made it possible for us to be delivered from eternal death; but have you also noticed that people are still facing death?

Christians will still have to face death as a human being just like any other human being has to face death. We continue to have bad things happen to us just like other people do. But as this passage alludes, God continues to care for us in ways we cannot imagine when we have our faith and trust firmly in His grip. Because of His love for us He does not want us to have to suffer, be it through hunger or any other ailment – but when we invite sin into our lives we also have to put up with the bad things that that is going to attract as well.

When we follow our prideful hearts or selfish minds we fall very short of God’s ways. We also then have to face up with the consequences. But even then we find an awesome truth in that God is always willing and able to forgive us when we do bring our faults to Him. So when someone tells me that our God is going to protect me from things, I already know that He does because I see the results of His forgiveness in my life every day. I am but a sinner, save by grace, God’s grace!

Points to Ponder:
What do you seek from God?

How often do you seek His forgiveness?