Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 05-25-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Cheerios, or whatever.

He graduates high school today

Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of great men;
For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.
Proverbs 25:6-7, NASB

This is an IMPORTANT lesson! Jesus extends and expands on it in Luke 14:7-24, and provides spiritual etiquette for both attending and giving feasts.  

The Proverbs passage is a simple rule for avoiding public humiliation, an experience devoutly to be avoided (personal experience!).  But: even if you follow the rule, and don’t elevate yourself higher than you should, 

YOU MIGHT STILL GET CLOBBERED!

  • You might do something the boss doesn’t like, something that’s not an error, and get slapped down.
  • You might not do anything wrong at all, but discover (too late) that you are working for a bully who is threatened by you. 

Consider David:  his music was perfect, but he still had to dodge King Saul’s spear. (I Samuel 18)

David didn’t seek honor from men. For David, honor came from God, and went to God. That meant, in part, doing the very best job he could.  

I think that’s why the spear didn’t kill his physical body, and the unfair treatment didn’t kill the rest of him. 

The real message of this passage: don’t seek honor with or from men, and men won’t have the power to humiliate us. Instead, emulate David this way:

Do justly, and 
Love mercy, and 
Walk humbly with thy God. 
Micah 6:8b, KJV

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. Habakkuk21May 25, 2023 at 8:51 AM

    The picture of Kenneth kissing Vanessa has nothing to do with the scripture or the devotional. However, my youngest boy is graduating high school today, and I chose this way to memorialize it.

    ReplyDelete

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