Reading: Devotional

August 23

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Can God Trust You?

Proverbs 3:1–12

It is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2 (ESV)

“The Lord is my shepherd” is a statement of trust in God. As important a claim as that is, however, it doesn’t mean much if it’s not backed up by action. Proverbs 3 indicates some of the attitudes and actions that confirm the extent of your trust in God, or to put it another way, that confirm that God can trust you.

·   Are you teachable; do you accept and learn from his discipline?

·   Do you acknowledge the Lord in all your ways?

·   Do you bow to God’s wisdom when it differs with yours? 

·   Do you honor God with the firstfruits of your wealth?

Some people wonder whether the trouble they face is from Satan or is part of the Lord’s discipline. But it’s really both. Satan tries to use trouble to separate you from God. But when God allows it, it’s because he wants to use it to draw you closer to himself. So if there are identifiable ways that you’ve ignored or disobeyed God, then take trouble to be God’s loving discipline, meant to get you back to where he wants you. If, on the other hand, you can’t identify particular sinful ways, there’s still more to learn about trusting God. So, no matter where your trouble comes from, cultivate your relationship with the Lord and let him see that he can trust you in the bad times as well as the good times.

Pay special attention to how you use your gifts and abilities and the material rewards that come from using them well. Perhaps God has given you the ability to make lots of money. Or maybe not. Either way, with the understanding that you are not the owner but merely the steward of the possessions God has given you, prove your trustworthiness by living a life of gratitude and generosity. If you want to trust God and to have him trust you, then be the best manager you can be with the life and possessions that God has given you. 

August 24

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Irresponsible Debt

Psalm 37:21; Proverbs 22:7 

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous

[earthly] wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

Luke 16:11 (ESV)

Noah Webster, in his 1828 dictionary, used biblical and moral illustrations in defining terms. He said this about debt: “It is a common misfortune or vice to be in debt.” Today, debt may be considered a misfortune but it is rarely considered a vice. But Proverbs 22:7 is correct: debt puts you in a type of bondage. This is not necessarily an argument against all kinds of debt. However, too often people go into debt simply because they cannot say “no” to their desire to accumulate things.

Irresponsible debt creates many problems:

·   It gives the illusion of financial security and success.

·   It frequently causes worry and family problems.

·   It invites temptations—whether to postpone or avoid repayment or to cheat in order to save or get money; such things put additional burdens on honest people.

·   It ties up money in principle and interest payments that could be better used for necessities or to help others.

·   In the case of irresponsible debt by governments, it puts future generations in bondage to debts that they did not incur.

There’s help for those who need it. The only trouble is, it has to do with self-discipline, which is not very pleasant to those who aren’t used to it. Monetary self-discipline includes such things as learning the ability to postpone pleasure, not spending money on sin, living within one’s means by adherence to a budget, accepting responsibility, etc. Each of us needs to consider whether or not our lives show godliness with contentment. Irresponsible debt and irresponsible spending, whether or not that incurs debt, hampers our life and witness and, as Jesus said, our ability to receive the true riches that God wants to give his people.