Sunday 24 Sep 2017

September 24: Proverbs 25:21-22

Key Verse: Proverbs 25:21
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

Devotion:
Have you ever said something like “give me one good reason why I should do anything for you”? Well, here is that reason! And don't use the words “heap coals of fire upon his head” as a reason to get back at them because that is not what this proverb is about! This proverb is about the exact opposite.

God wants each of us to give time for those in our lives who would work against us. He wants us to give time to those who are trying to show us up, trying to bring us down, trying to make themselves look better than us. Why? Well for a few reasons. Firstly, because we may well be just like them. We may be looking for attention and doing things that we can see are wrong in others, but not when we do them. We may be the ones going a step too far just so we can make ourselves look better. We may be the ones taking other people’s glory to feed our own appetite for the lime light! We need to know that God must get all the glory and not ourselves – we need to remember we are doing things for God because of all He has already done for us.

Secondly, because we need to show others we care about them enough for them to know they don't have to be like that. Most of the time people go about doing things because they need attention of some recognition that they think is lacking in their lives. If we are able to show them they do not have to go that far for attention, then we have shown them a very small aspect of God's love. Heaping coals upon someone's head does not mean heating their head until it explodes but rather giving them so much to think about they are willing to change their ways. Giving them enough to think their problem through and see that God is their helper and we are just an instrument is what this is all about!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things to gain attention?

How often do you do things to give God attention?