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
30:24-28 (KJV): 24 There be four things
which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
25 The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28 The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
Proverbs
30:24-28 (KJ21): 24 There are four things
which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.
25 the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the
summer;
26 the conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27 the locusts have no king, yet they go forth, all of them in ranks;
28 the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
Thoughts for the Day:
These verses
from Proverbs give us an example of four things that
are little, yet wise in their actions. These four creatures are the ant,
the coney (a small rabbit-like animal), the locust, and the spider. All
of them are described as being small, yet they use certain techniques that give
them great advantage.
First (in verse
25) is the ant, and it is applauded because it stores up its food in the
summer for the long hard winter months, when food is scarce, and the ant cannot
go out and forage for food. This characteristic is a very wise one because
in an imperfect world, we all face times when we need a reserve to fall back on.
Today we call it, "saving for a rainy day." This is a habit that we all need to
develop, as there are always times when a store of food or money can be used to
come to our rescue. Saving money and making emergency preparations are different
than hoarding things. When people hoard, they lack a trust in God. Hoarding is
usually done in secret and has a selfish motive behind it, while saving is
designed to meet future needs. Hoarding has a fear and greed element attached to
it, while saving and preparing for the future is directed by God. Joseph, in the
Old Testament, was a man who was used to store up grain during seven bountiful
years in order to feed the people during seven years of drought and famine.
The coney is the
next animal listed in verse 26. Conies, rabbit-like creatures, were
small and feeble animals, therefore they were vulnerable, as larger animals
sought them for prey. However, they achieved safety because they made
their homes in the rocks. Even the larger animals who sought to capture them
could not navigate in the rocks as well as on open ground; nor could they dig in
the rocks and uncover their homes. Although the coney was feeble, because he had
a secure house in the rocks, it gave him the protection he needed. We can learn
from this animal by securing our homes, before we purchase other things. So many
people today are getting secondary loans against their homes to pay off credit
card bills; others who have their homes paid for are mortgaging them also. This
is a very unwise thing to do, as a home that is paid for gives people great
security if, and when, hard times come. One scenario is that a person can lose
their credit rating, if they fail to pay their credit card debt timely; however,
that is not as bad as losing your home for lack of payment and having nowhere
to go.
In verse 27
the locusts are listed as wise also. Although they have no king or ruler, they
join together in organized ranks to go out when they attack an area. Christians
could well learn from this. If we banded together on major issues that are
coming against our Christian principles and rights, we could ravage the enemy,
even as the locusts ravage a field when they attack. Each one devours the
foliage directly around them, and as they all go forward, soon there is nothing
left in the field. If every Christian attacked the field of evil in their
area, then we could win the entire battle that the devil has assailed against
us.
Lastly, in
verse 28, we are told that not even the king with all his wealth and power
can keep spiders out of his house. This is because the spider is able to climb
walls quickly to high places and disappear in small crevasses; therefore, they
escape being detected and destroyed. They are wise in not remaining in the
open, thus inviting attacks. They are careful where they go. We would be
wise to be more discreet in our affairs, thus avoiding attack from the enemy.
People who are prideful and brag about their wealth, or parade their finery,
invite thieves to their households. Hezekiah made this mistake in the Old
Testament.
2 Kings
20:13-17:
13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious
ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his
treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that
Hezekiah showed them not.
14 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said
these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come
from a far country, even from Babylon.
15 And he said, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All
the things that are in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my
treasures that I have not showed them.
16 And Isaiah said unto Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD.
17 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy
fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon:
nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.
I believe the list
of these creatures is included in the Proverbs so that we can learn to
be as resourceful as they are in the areas of saving, protection, unity in
battles and being careful. It is pointed out to us that although they are all
small, their wisdom made up for that handicap and became a protection for them.
Prayer for the Day:
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the wonderful teachings we find in the Bible. Help us to apply
these analogies to our personal lives. We can learn a lot just by observing Your
magnificent creation. Teach us Your wisdom in our daily affairs, so that
we learn how to prevent problems in our lives. Lord, may we walk in love in all
of our affairs, as that is one of the wisest things we can do. We ask in
the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
