Take My Medicine

Daily Reading: Proverbs 12

Scripture Focus: Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. (Proverbs 12.1 ESV)

Devotional Thought: As I read this chapter, at first I thought I could ignore 9 of the verses because it addressed the behavior of the “wicked” and I am not wicked.  Wicked means evil, nasty, vile, detestable, and, well, you know what wicked is.  And I am not wicked!  A little selfish, perhaps, but certainly not wicked.

Then I slowed myself down to read just what those “wicked” folks are guilty of.

v. 2 says “wicked schemes”.  Whoa, I have schemed to benefit me.

v. 6 says “wicked lie in wait for blood”.  I have wanted harm to come to people who have wronged me.  Yikes.

v. 10 says “acts of the wicked are cruel”.  I have been cruel. Ugh.

v. 26 says “the way of the wicked leads them astray”.  I have led my friends astray. Uh-oh.

All of these behaviors demonstrate my selfishness.  If I replace the word “wicked” in these verses with the word “selfish”, then all of a sudden, I can no longer ignore their significance.  Here is how those changed verses get my attention:

v. 2:  Good people obtain favor from the Lord, but he condemns those who devise selfish schemes.

v. 6: The words of the selfish lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them.

v. 10: The … kindest acts of the selfish are cruel.

v. 26: The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the selfish leads them astray.

From time to time, we all need the discipline of the Lord.  This chapter was the perfect time for me to take my medicine!

Sama Gilliland

Prayer: God, help me to remember that selfishness is wicked.  Help me to read your Word with open eyes and an open heart so that the words of 2 Timothy 3.16-17 are never diminished in my life.  “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that [I] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  Amen

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 7.14-17

14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.

15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.

16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.

17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.