Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 25:15-20
Prov 25:15-20
15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. 16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. 17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. 18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. 19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. 20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda.
2 Thess 2:16-17, 3:16
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
Patience is a virtue that is easy to talk about but is much more difficult to put into practice in our lives. We live in a hurry-up world and often find ourselves in a big hurry, even when we have no reason to be in a hurry. More than once as we were walking along my wife has told me that we are not going to a fire, and for me to slow down. Often, we walk too fast, eat too fast, talk too fast. Patience is hard.
It is even more difficult when others seem to be slowing us down in whatever it is that we are doing. Thus, the rise in the “fast-food” industry and the microwave oven for cooking. When the car in front of us is going too slow, we get irritated or when the check-out line is moving too slowly, we get impatient. Perhaps now is the time for us to slow down, enjoy the beauty around us and smell the roses.
Another virtue that is difficult for many is moderation. I admit that this one is more difficult for me than having patience. If I like it, I like it. If I want it, I want it. If a little is good, a lot is better. But the wise man says that if honey is good, eat just enough and then quit before it makes you sick. Limit the time you spend in your neighbor’s house, he (or she) may actually get tired of you being there. We need to practice moderation in almost every facet of our lives, except in love.
O Lord God, give me patience and help me practice moderation in all things. As I seek to be more humble, patience becomes easier to practice. As I focus on the needs of others, moderation comes more easily. So, fill me with your Spirit so that I will become all that you want me to be, and his fruit will flourish in my heart and in my life. Thank you for being so patient with me, even when I do not even realize that I need your patience. Be with our nation and guide our elections. Give us leaders that will allow us to live in peace. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
