Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 22:6-11
Prov 22:6-11
6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail. 9 Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor. 10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11 He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
Rom 13:8
Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Rom 6:16-18
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
The borrower is the slave of the lender. This is true in the physical world, but it is just as true in the spiritual realm as well. Our lives are not our own, but we belong to God, both physically and spiritually. We can live for him and be given to doing what is right and being like Jesus or we can choose to live for ourselves, fulfilling our own desires, and then we become slaves of the devil. But this is up to us. We make the decision for ourselves, not for others and they cannot do it for us.
One of the dichotomies of truth is that slavery is not inherently bad if we make the choice to become a slave for ourselves. What makes it bad is when we have a master that does not love us and is not willing to take care of us. But, you say, we are giving up our free will when we become a slave. But when we give ourselves to God, we do so by giving up our own will and accepting his will for our lives. In fact, Jesus said we must die to self in order to have eternal life in him.
O Lord God, help me be willing to actually give up my own will for yours. It is easy for me to say this because it sounds good and I know it is right but (yes, but) there is a part of me that wants to hold on to my own will and do it my way. I want to be in control of my own life, and yet, I know that on the best day I am not in control of anything other than my decisions about my heart and my attitude. Help me choose daily to take up my cross and to follow Jesus. Thank you for your mercy and your forgiveness extended to me in your Son, in whose name I pray.
Robert
