Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Proverbs 21:16-20
Prov 21:16-20
16 One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead. 17 Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. 18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright. 19 It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. 20 Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.
Luke 12:41-42, 48
Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.
When we think of being good stewards of what God has put into our trust, we normally think of money or material things. While we are to use these things wisely and we are to be good stewards of them, this is only a small part of what has been entrusted to us by God. We all have various abilities and even when these are in common with others, we have different opportunities to use them.
Moses was told by God to go to Egypt and deliver the children of Israel. He made all kinds of excuses and one of these was that he could not speak well. Stephen, in his final speech in Acts, said that Moses was mighty in his words. Moses had the ability but made an excuse because he didn’t want to do what God had planned for him. God asked him who had made his mouth and who made people mute, deaf, or blind? God could have forced him but instead sent Aaron to help.
When God has a plan to be carried out, it will be done. If that plan includes you or me, we will not stop the plan by making excuses or refusing to do the work. God will just use someone else, or he will help us change our minds. We can be like Moses and get the job done or we can be like Balaam, do what God planned and then be destroyed with the enemies of God because of our wrong attitude.
O Lord God, give me a willing spirit to do your will. Give me wisdom to know what you want me to do in my life and strength to get it done. Increase my faith so that I will accept the fact that I can actually do anything you want me to do, through Christ Jesus my Lord, even that which seems impossible to me. I thank you and I praise you for your goodness, your love, your mercy, and your grace shown to me in more ways than I can even know. Thank you for my family, my friends, and for all who encourage me to do your work. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
