Daily Devotional
Betty Miller shares her daily devotionals which are based on the book of Proverbs in the
Bible.
The Wisdom of God
Verses for the Day:
Proverbs 3:9-10 (KJV):
9 Honour the LORD with thy
substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10 (AMP):
9 Honor the Lord with your capital and sufficiency (from righteous labors), and
with the first fruits of all your income;
10 So shall your storage places be filled with plenty, and your vats be
overflowing with new wine.
Thoughts for the Day:
In these verses we find another wonderful promise of
God. This one has to do with material blessings. We are told here that if we honor
God with our material belongings and put Him first, we will be blessed with plenty. When
we study the Bible we find the Word of God addresses the people of that day and their
culture. Since many were farmers or herders, many of the parables or admonitions
would be shared in a way that they could identify with their surroundings or occupations.
In these verses, the firstfruits represented their first harvest of crops; or the first
lambs of their herds; or the first fruits from their orchards. Many had grape orchards and
when their fruits were gathered they brought them to the grape presses which extracted the
juice for wine. Since they did not have refrigeration, their grape juice did not
take long to become wine.
As they brought the best their flocks and the
firstfruits of their harvests to the temple to be offered to the Lord, God received these
offerings through His priests, as an act of faith and obedience on their parts.
These offerings represented their labor and was the substance of what they worked
for. Today, our labor is rewarded through monetary payments, so our first fruits would be
the first money out of our paychecks going to the Lord's work. When we give to God we are
acknowledging or honoring Him as Lord over our money.
God does expect us to keep money for bread, as well as seed for sowing. Those
Christians who give it all away and then expect God to take care of them are violating
this principle of keeping bread to eat. (Farmers kept grain to grind into flour for bread
making, as well as some grain for seed to plant the next crop.) Some people give all their
seed away and have nothing to eat, while others wrongly eat all their seed and have
nothing to plant for the next harvest. We should have seed for both purposes.
After we plant a crop we expect a harvest; even so we should expect God to meet our
financial needs when we have been obedient and have given Him our tithes and offerings. "Give,
and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete
withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).
Our giving should also be to help our brothers and sisters whenever the Lord so
directs. We must learn how to give by the Spirit's direction and not allow our emotions or
sympathy to rule us. Until we have had these soulish areas renewed, we can still be
influenced by Satan through them. God is not always sympathetic with seemingly good
causes. We should not give mechanically to things because it has been our pattern in times
past, but we should remain open to the Lord's direction for our giving as with all
guidance. Sometimes the Lord may speak that we are not to give to a certain person or
ministry. We need to be just as sensitive to the Lord's restraining voice as to His
condoning voice. He may want us to give elsewhere.
If we are truly walking in the Spirit, we will always have the desire to give because
it is the nature of God to give. Greed and stinginess are from Satan. If we are truly
committed to God, giving will not be a burden, but rather a joy. God is calling us to be
committed to the point where if He told us to leave all and follow Him, we would not
hesitate. We find a rich man in the Bible that could not make this commitment, and he
ultimately missed God's blessings for his life (Luke 18:18-25). Let us be
faithful in the area of giving and we shall never lack in the things we really need as
that is God's promise to us. Our barns will be filled with plenty.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for taking
care of my needs today. Help me to always be faithful to give to Your work monetarily.
Lord, help me also to be faithful to pray for those who are laboring in the work of
getting the gospel out. Show me the places you want me to give. I know we are to support
our local churches, but help me also to give to missions and Christian projects that are
laboring to help people know you. Lord, I know as I reach out and give, your
promise is to bless me back. Thank You for monetary blessings, so that not only will my
needs be met, but I will have an abundance to helps others in need. Help me to be generous
in every good work, even as it was spoken of You, that You went about doing good. Amen.
|