Proclaiming God's Word To The Nations
 
 
Bible Daily Devotional from Proverbs
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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 26:15-16 (KJV):
15 The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom; it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason.

Proverbs 26:15-16 (AMP):
15 The slothful and self-indulgent buries his hand in his bosom; it distresses and wearies him to bring it again to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes and conceit than seven men who can render a reason and answer discreetly.

Thoughts for the Day:

These verses from Proverbs describe the height of laziness when a person refuses to even feed himself, and then considers himself smarter than seven wise men. This is a description of those spoken about in the Bible who are known as sluggards or slothful people. The dictionary definition of a "sluggard" or "slothful" person is one who is habitually lazy, idle, or indolent. The lazy soul described here does not even want to feed himself.  We find many today who look to others to feed them, as they are too lazy to work.  Certainly there are times when we all must have help when hard times come to our door. However, this verse is talking about a habitually lazy person, not a true needy person. We need to pray for these people, as the Lord desires to touch and change their lives and give them a desire to live and work. 

Even more sinful than their laziness, is their attitude of being wise in their own eyes (prideful). They are so conceited, they think they are smarter than men who are truly wise. My husband and I pastored for many years and during that time numerous beggars would come to our church door asking for money for food or gas for their cars. Since we had compassionate, trusting hearts, it was hard for us to believe people would lie to us about their conditions in order to get money for their bad habits. However, we learned early on not to give them money, as when we did, it was reported from other church members that they were seen down the road, with a new bottle of whiskey or wine.  We then made it a practice to send them to a restaurant or service station and have those people bill us. By doing that, we avoided giving them money that they would use for the wrong things that would hurt them.

Although most of them lied to us, the thing that shocked me the most about many of them was their pride. On more than one occasion, when we would try to share some wisdom with them to help them out of their poverty situations, they would become most indignant.  I realized that most of them did not want real help, but they only wanted a hand-out so they could continue the lifestyle that they were accustomed to, which included answering to no one and doing their own thing. Verse 16 reminds me of those people, as when we offered them a job or an opportunity to help out the needy in our church, they refused and went on their way, as they all thought they were smart enough to avoid working and still get by. 

Of course, at times there would be people with real needs who were just in bad circumstances. Those people were grateful for the help and willing to listen to advice so we could help them overcome their problems. They were not like the sluggards who were irresponsible and who just took advantage of others, and never made any attempts to change their lifestyles. We always prayed for these people and reached out to them in love, as God cares about them and desires to help them overcome their bad habits. Our prayer was that perhaps our words and witness to them would plant a seed in their hearts and later on they would come to the Lord when they became weary of their lives as sluggards.

Through these experiences, I realized that people could be prideful when they had absolutely nothing to be proud about. The Bible says that pride is an attitude of the heart.  A poor person can have it, as well as a wealthy person; just as a poor person can be humble and so can a wealthy person have humility.  Pride and humility are both characteristics that are in the heart of man. Pride and egotism are from the devil, while humility is from God. God told Samuel, the prophet, that He looks on the heart of men.

1 Samuel 16:7: But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

Prayer for the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for being a God of compassion.  May we, as Your children, have Your compassionate heart also.  Lord, give us wisdom as to how we should deal with those who are sluggards.  Let us help them by sharing Your love with them; but Lord, may we be strong enough to say no to people who are manipulating us in order to use us for the wrong purposes. Give us Your discernment so that we know when people are lying to us, and the wisdom and love to respond in the proper way. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.