Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 22:12-16
Prov 22:12-16
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!” 14 The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. 15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
Eph 2:3-7
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
The Lord keeps watch over knowledge. This is because all truth comes from him and is revealed to us through Jesus Christ. He does this because as God, he is love. But notice that his love is described as “great” love. His love for us is not from a choice he has made but because of his very nature, it is a part of him. This love that he shows to us is the kind of love we are to have for him and for others.
Because of his great love for us, he has “rich mercy” toward us because of our sinfulness and the separation this has caused between us and him. We were dead to him and all we deserved from him was punishment, eternal death or separation from his presence. This would mean that we are to be eternally separated from all that is good, all that is light, all that is love. “But God…”
Because of his great love and his rich mercy, he wants us to be saved so he has extended to us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness through Jesus Christ, his beloved Son. God has done all he can do for us to be able to live with him forever, to have life eternal. But not just to live, but to live on a new earth that is free from sin, free from disease, free from sorrow, and free from pain. All of this will be replaced when we are given new bodies that are glorified and in his likeness. It is no wonder we will praise him and his Son forever!
O Lord God, WOW! Your plan for me is awesome, so awesome that I can’t wrap my head around this or even imagine how great it will be to be in your presence forever, with only good and nothing bad in my life. I praise you now! I thank you for making this all available to me in Jesus. When I struggle or when I suffer, help me remember all of this. When I am tempted to follow my own way instead of following your will for me, remind me again. Increase my faith and fill me with your love so I can show Jesus to others. I humbly pray in his name.
Robert
