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.
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.
Although most of
them lied to us, the thing that
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.
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