Monday 20 Mar 2017

March 20: Proverbs 20:14

Key Verse: Proverbs 20:14
“It is good for nothing,” cries the buyer; But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

Devotion:
When was the last time you went hunting for a bargain? How long did you wander around until you found what you were looking for? Or maybe you knew what you wanted and just wanted the price to come down. Did you have to haggle over the price? How long did you think about it for? We have probably all been in this type of situation at one time or another, and every time we try to get the best deal we can by complaining about it until we have what we want, then go off and boast about how cheap we got it for!

We all like to think we are shrewd when it comes to business deals. We all like to think we are good at obtaining what we need. But how many times do you get carried away with what you don't need. How many times do you give a thought to the other person at the other end of the bargain? How often do you really think about what the item means to you or what it meant to the other person? How often do you think about the real material worth of the item or what it cost the other person to make? Many times we do feel as if we are paying way too much for some things, but other things have been given to us at incredible prices because the people making the items are just not getting paid the real worth of the items.

We could come up with all sorts of excuses about how it is the other person who is doing wrong and how we are innocent, but if we know the truth, then we do have a choice. Christ tried to show people how to not be selfish when He was here on earth. He tried to show us how we do get carried away by our selfish desires, yet we continue in our efforts without much thought for others. Selfishness has been around for a long time and will continue to be with us for as long as we are living on earth... We do need to think about others when we are trying to get the best for ourselves. We also need to be fair about the dealings we have with others when we are doing the selling. If we are not fair about out dealings, then how do we expect others to be fair to us?

Points to Ponder:
Do you treat friends and strangers differently?

How honest are you with your dealings with God?