13 - Friend or Foe?
Proverbs 3:
21. Have two goals: wisdom - that is, knowing and doing right - and
common sense. Don't let them slip away,
22. for they fill you with living energy, and bring you honor and respect.
23. They keep you safe from defeat and disaster and from stumbling
off the trail.
24. With them on guard you can sleep without fear;
25. you need not be afraid of disaster or the plots of wicked men,
26. for the Lord is with you; he protects you.
27. Don't withhold repayment of your debts.
Don't say "some other time", if you can pay now.
29. Don't plot against your neighbor; he is trusting you.
LB
Previously, we considered Jesus' definition of who our neighbour is,
from Luke 10 : 29 - 37.
Today we want to look at neighbours from another point of view and understand
that though many people we meet in our life will deal with us in goodness,
Proverbs 3 : 29 is a warning to us that not everyone will be good to us in life.
Some people unfortunately find this out too early in life and so are never
able to trust anyone. Others have only ever known good people and are
shocked when they discover through experience that not everyone is going
to be good to them.
In the area of knowing who to trust in life, God says that our goals should
be to develop Wisdom and Common Sense.
We need to pray for the people we come in contact with daily:
those in our home school or work place church and community.
Jesus also warns us to "Keep alert and pray." (Matthew 26 : 41).
If we keep alert as we pray for those we must deal with on a daily basis,
we will be able to see what their attitude is towards us, and we will gain
the wisdom from God to relate to them in a way that God would be able to bless.
However, we need to understand that the world isn't only made up of people
who will treat us well or badly. There are also people we come across in
life, whose outlook is so radically different from our own, that
they will seem to be opposing us, even though they may not set out to do so.
In these cases we especially need the Wisdom and Common Sense of the Lord
to relate to them successfully.
But the truth is that there are some people in the world who are wicked
and if we will "Keep alert and pray" over all our relationships, we will
have the wisdom to deal with all those whose paths cross ours, with godly
wisdom and common sense.
Prayer:
Father, today help me in my relationships with those in my life,
that I will be able to relate to them with Your brand of Wisdom
and Common Sense,
in Jesus' name,
Amen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
LB stands for "The Living Bible", by Tyndale House Publishers
NKJV stands for "The New King James Bible",
by Thomas Nelson Publishers
A new reading in this series is available every day!
See you tomorrow, God willing, and be blessed in all you do today!
Sol Wise. | |
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