Pastor Derek’s
Devotional Journal for August 15
Day 7 – Favor With God and Man
Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-4 NLT
1My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. 2If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. 3Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. 4Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
What is the writer saying?
We learn so many wonderful truths that, if followed, serve us well throughout life. We need especially need to store those spiritual truths that we have learned from others along the way. If we do this, the result will be a longer and more satisfying life. We must never compromise principles like loyalty and kindness. We are to maintain them at the very core of our being so that they become our core values. When we do, our life will please God and others will be drawn to us, for we shall then have a reputation fitting for a Christian
How does this apply to my life?
I am told that there is a book whose titles goes something like this: All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. As I look back on my childhood, I realize that my desire to please God was formulated in a Sunday School Class taught by Mrs. Duplessis. I learned to share and to be fair from my parents when my sisters came along. I learned respect for teachers and for those in authority from Mom and Dad before I was allowed to be in a Sunday School class. To this day these form some of my core values. But I need to revisit these principles often to ensure that they always remain at the core of who I am. Oh that I might please the Father and that my life would radiate the kindness and loyalty of Christ, so that others might be continually drawn to Him.
My prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you so much for the parents who brought me into the world and raised me to be who I am. But I thank you, too, for Sunday School teachers like Mrs. Duplessis, Elaine Kelly, and Weldon Vroom. Only eternity will reveal their full impact on me. Today I pray that I might be found faithful in your sight to live out these principles each day. Help me to be increasingly kind and caring; loyal and supportive; grace-filled and forgiving. May the words of my lips, the attitudes of my heart and the actions I take this day be pleasing to you.
Your son.