Friday Reading: Proverbs 29 11

Key Verse: Proverbs 29 11
11  A fool speaks all his mind; but a wise one keeps it in until afterwards.

Devotion:
How many times have you said something only to wish that you could take it back? I’m sure we have all lost count of the times we have done that – hopefully it is not just me! I can remember my parents and grandparents telling me many times when I was young that I should think before I spoke and I guess I have finally put into practise those words, at least most of the time. Then there are times when someone comes to you in confidence and they talk about things which they do not want you to repeat – or maybe it is the other way round with you going to someone else. Those private words need to be kept private.

We get to learn about the people that we can trust, the people that will not spread gossip about us and hopefully people get to learn that they can trust us too. That trust is a big part in our lives and needs to be there for us to learn to trust in God. We are not going to go to a gossip-monger for fear of them repeating everything that we say and likewise someone will not come to us if we have proven ourselves to be the same. Trust is something that grows over time and something that we depend on in our lives.

As a good Christian we need to be willing to talk with people and willing to listen to people because that is the way that we can tell others about Christ. When people come to us with open hearts we need to accept them with open hearts too and be willing to keep those personal times as exactly that – between us and the Lord. God wants us to be 100% open and honest with Him, bringing everything to Him always. That means that we have to be willing to tell Him about everything knowing full well that He is not going to go gossiping off to others about us. Our relationship with Christ needs to be personal and also 100% trustworthy ... both ways ...

Points to Ponder:
What do you talk about with others?

Are you listening to Christ as well?

Thursday Reading: Ecclesiastes 7 11-13
 
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 7 13
13  Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?

Devotion:
No matter how clever we think we are there is always someone somewhere that will have something that confuses us or someone who will have a question that we cannot answer. This is simply because we do not know everything... If you asked anyone what they would like in life they would probably start with a good amount of money through which they will be able to enjoy life and allow others to enjoy life too. Others may turn round and ask for wisdom like Solomon did. Both of these would be good to have and it would be a hard choice to choose between the two if we had to.

If someone would choose wisdom and you were to ask them why they chose wisdom instead of money, they would probably say that with wisdom you could make money so you would not need to ask for it. But how many would choose spiritual wisdom instead of earthly wisdom? How many would be willing to give up all earthly goods just to have spiritual wisdom? If we were asked to name several wise people we would probably start with the people with earthly wisdom and money because we think that they have been successful.

But success is not all about what we can achieve here on earth because our time on earth is but a twinkle in our eyes compared to the time everlasting that our souls have after our earthly bodies pass on. If we have earthly wisdom then all we can gain is earthly riches; but if we have spiritual wisdom then we can gain spiritual riches too. We have already seen that we cannot take anything with us when we die – that is all left behind for our family and friends. So why should we seek out earthly wisdom if we have to leave it all behind when we do die? Is that not then for a good life on earth? Is that not then us focusing on ourselves before God? We have to think about why we are here and we have to try and focus on what God has in store for each of us before we pick up on what we may think is good for ourselves...

Points to Ponder:
What is the best thing you have ever done?

Are you happy God created you?

Wednesday Reading: Luke 16 19-26
 
Key Verse: Luke 16 22
22  And it happened that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich one also died and was buried.

Devotion:
There is a huge difference in death between believers in Christ and those who do not trust in Him. Those who are willing to listen to the truth and reject it will eventually find out the hard way that they too will be rejected by Christ. For those who are willing to accept Christ back into their lives before they die, they have a sure place in heaven with Him. When Christ told this parable of the rich man and the poor man He wanted everyone around to hear just how important it is to make the right decision before it is too late.

We may scorn at the things that some people say to us because we don’t want to have to follow their rules or their beliefs, but when they are telling us of the truth then we do have to listen and we do have to learn. When we are at school we are (hopefully) taught between right and wrong and we discern between the two. As we go out into life by ourselves those sort of decisions become even more important as they become central to our lives. We cannot go on pushing aside anything we do not like because it may well be the truth that we push aside.

God has given us His Word, the truth, so that we can know it and so that we can find out how to apply it to our lives. He has given us passages like this to remind us of just how important that decision is and that it has to be taken before we die. It is no use saying “I’ll do it tomorrow” if you are going to die tonight! We certainly would not like to find ourselves in the position that this rich man found himself in – knowing the truth and yet not being able to do anything about it, not even for his friends and family. God wants us to make up our minds about the truth and He wants each of us to know the truth – what we do with it has far reaching implications that we don’t often think about!

Points to Ponder:
Do you always put things off?
 
Do you take your life for granted?

Tuesday Reading: Job 14 7-12
 
Key Verse: Job 14 10
10  But man dies and is cut off; and man expires, and where is he?

Devotion:
One thing we see in this wonderful world around us is that things continue to live on even when we think they are dead. So many wonderful flowers of the desert lie dormant until they have a slight sniff of moisture and then bloom for a very short time. When we have a drought, so many things die back or turn brown until the rain finally comes back and then they sprout up all over the place again. Man is not like that. We have but one life to live and that is why we have to live it right!

God has given us the bible so that we may identify that we are nothing, that we are sinners and that we do have a finite lifespan. He has given us all we need to know in His Word by which we can be saved. He has shown us His awesome love for us and how we can depend on that love above everything. He has given us His promise that He will look after us so long as we are willing to come to Him and admit that we are what we are. Once we do that and acknowledge Him as Christ and King then we will and do have a sure place in heaven forever more.

A tree will be given many a chance with each rain shower and each underground stream that passes by, but we are given one chance at our life. A tree may well live for hundreds of years but our lifespan is set by God. He will continue to give us chance after chance to allow us to see what we are before we die, but if we do not make that decision before we die, it is too late. God wants us to make that decision whilst we still can, to allow our souls to be safe with Him before our mortal bodies give in. God loves us more than we realise at first – getting to know Him means getting to understand just how much He does love us.

Points to Ponder:
Do you know whether you still have time?

God alone knows your lifespan!