Sunday 22 Oct 2017

October 22: Proverbs 26:24-26

Key Verse: Proverbs 26:24
Enemies disguise themselves with their lips, but in their hearts they harbour deceit.

Devotion:
I don't think any of us could truly admit to never holding a grudge against someone at some time. We all like to think we will be able to forgive and forget, but at some stage we think others go a bit too far and we start remembering what they are doing. Before long, we have got a whole string of things we have remembered and then we start to break those instances down into deceitful things in our hearts. At first, we probably do not mean anything by them, but the longer they stay in our hearts, the more they eat up at us and the more we dwell on them. Before long we have used them to plot something against our adversary – or at least that is now how we see them!

When we get to that stage we may well say anything to convince others we are not holding a grudge, but deep in our hearts we have those grudges and they are gaining in strength hour by hour as we think over them over and over. It is no longer just the one thing we remember which was done against us, but a whole string of things, building up as if blocked by a dam. When we are confronted, we may well try our best to cover it up, but before long, the deceit in our hearts will overflow and consume the words that come out of our mouths. Then it is too late – everyone sees what we have been doing for the past days. Weeks, month…

There is one big thing we seem to have forgotten here. We are on view to Christ at all times! Our heart is an open book for Him to see what we are doing. As soon as we start to take on those grudges, He is waiting for us to stop and admit them to Him. We may well be careful enough to not let anyone see what we have inside, but God knows. Before long He will allow us to see what we are doing, and if we are listening to Him, we will recognise what we are doing wrong. But far too often we will block things out just so we can continue with our self-deceit to prolong our grudges; just so we can feel like we have got our own way!

Points to Ponder:
Are you holding a grudge?

Are you listening to God?