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:
24 He that saith
unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall
abhor him:
25 But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come
upon them.
26 Every man shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer.
Proverbs 24:24-26 (AMP):
24 He who says to the
wicked, You are righteous and innocent -- peoples will curse him, nations will
defy and abhor him.
25 But to those (upright judges) who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with
them and they will find delight, and a good blessing will be upon them.
26 He kisses the lips (and wins the hearts of men) who give a right answer.
Thoughts for the Day:
These verses in Proverbs
continue to exhort judges to execute their judgments in a fair and just manner,
thereby winning the hearts of the people. When a community or a nation observes
people in positions of authority favoring the wicked and calling them righteous
(when it is obvious to all that it is not the case), then people abhor those
men. The Bible tells us that there is a very strong penalty for calling evil
good and good evil.
Isaiah 5:20:
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
These verses say
"Woe to them" who call evil good and good evil; therefore, if a judge
rewards someone who is evil with a good sentence, then he will not only
have people curse him, but according to these scriptures evil will not depart
from his own house. Wicked judges that can be bribed to favor an evil person
will in time reap what they are sowing. The opposite is also true, those who are
righteous judges and make the proper judgments will find favor in the site of
people according to verse 26 (as a kiss to the lips represents winning
the hearts of people).
Anyone that is in
a position to make judicial decisions needs the wisdom and discernment of God in
order to serve the people in a fair and honest manner. Judges who are motivated
by self interests are not in a position to have God's discernment. These ones can
be influenced by the devil; rewarding evil people, and punishing
good people. The greatest qualification a judge can possess is to be a man or
woman of morals and character. These attributes will help bring justice when
they must rule in cases of right and wrong.
As Christians, we
are required to make judgments as well. Some Christians mistakenly believe that
we should not judge others at all; however, that is not what scripture teaches.
Most of us are familiar with the Scripture in Matthew 7:1 that says,
"Judge not, that ye be not judged." If we look at only this one verse, and
we are trying to judge a situation, we will feel guilty about making an
evaluation. However, we should look at all the other Scriptures related to this
one, so we know how we are to judge. Let us continue to read the rest of this
Scripture, "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall
be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me
pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matthew 7:2-5).
Examining all these Scriptures, we see that Jesus is
not saying we are not to judge, but rather how we are to judge. Our
judgment should be merciful. The judgment we judge others with will be
the same way we shall be judged. Jesus had just instructed the people in
His sermon on the mount, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7). We can see here that we are able to
"store up" mercy. If we want others to be merciful to us when we fail
and make mistakes, we must extend mercy to those that we now see who are
making mistakes. We need to judge according to God's Word. We are to see
if things line up with the Word of God. If we see sin in our own lives,
or in others, we must call it sin. Then, we are to pray for those that
are in sin, asking the Lord to forgive and deliver them. As we make this
kind of honest judgment, we bring help to those in sin, not
condemnation. In this way we do not call evil good, but rather we call
it sin. Then we can point them to the one who can forgive their sin and
help them live a new life in Christ.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your Word. I do appreciate You teaching me to be kind and
merciful. Lord, help me to judge fairly and correctly when I am called to
evaluate a situation. May I have a heart to reach out and help people deal with
their sin and help them find their answers in You. Lord, give me wisdom and
discernment in dealing with others.
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