Thursday 12 Jul 2018

July 12: Proverbs 3:1-6

Key Verse: Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Devotion:
What better summary of the past week’s devotions can there be than this passage. Would you rather live in constant disagreement with those around you, or would you rather fit in and be happy? That is a loaded question because most of us will look at it from our human perspective. We like to make sure we are not rubbing people up the wrong way so we can live more in harmony than in friction! But at what cost? How many times do we actually look at the cost of what we do?

If we go along with what others are doing around us, are we going against God? If we do what pleases man, are we doing what pleases God? Most often the two are opposing each other because what man does and what God would have us do are different. What we have to remember is that we are only together with man for a short while, but our life with God is eternal. We need to focus on our eternal life and do what is right in God’s sight. When we do that, we will begin to find doing God’s will becomes part of our lives and living with God and His rules becomes a whole lot easier.

But you know what the strange thing is… people around are going to see a change in you. They may not like the change at first because it makes you different. But if you are willing and able to stick with God’s will and His commandments, they will then see in you a new strength which allows you to stay with what you believe. That change will impress them more than someone who gives in to their surroundings. They may not say it at first, but that is what they think – I can remember thinking this about other Christians. People will not like it if you tell them how much of a sinner they are or how they are doing it all wrong, but if you simply stand up and say you want to do things the right way – that will make them think about what they do without personally confronting them. We cannot judge people and we cannot tell them how to run their lives. What we can do is to judge our own actions against God’s laws and correct how we live our lives. That change will allow others to see they don’t have to give in to temptations either.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you “go along with it” to have fun?

Ask God for direction and listen to what He tells you!