REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor David Kwon who heads Journey Community Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, was first posted on December 19, 2014. He is a graduate of Drexel University (BS) and Columbia International University (M.Div.).
“Numbering Our Days”
Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
About a year ago, as I was sitting through a funeral service, I was reminded of how short our lives were in comparison to eternity. Moments like these are always a good reminder that God has numbered our days; and because of this reality, we should live wisely and according to His ways.
This proverb warns against overconfidence concerning the future. Boasting in the future means that one thinks he/she has control over the future, and this is the way of the foolish. One commentator said, “A wise person must not speak nor plan as if he himself had full disposal of his destiny and power over his future.” The wise live day-by-day, trusting the outcome to God and being grateful for whatever may happen. James 4:14-16 says it like this: “yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”
Are you overconfident when it comes to your plans, dreams and future? In light of our lives being a momentary mist, are you doing your best to live wisely and for His purposes? Spend time in prayer, completely surrendering your future to Him. Pray that you would make your life count for Jesus alone.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the reminder that my life is nothing more than a mist, that is here one minute and gone the next. Help me to live for your glory and kingdom with the time I have on this earth. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Revelation 2
Lunch Study Break
Read Matthew 6:25-34: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27] And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ [32] For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33] But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.[34] “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Questions to Consider
- When it comes to the area of worry, what is the main issue Jesus is pointing to?
- What is the solution to anxiety over our future?
- How can we be comforted by this passage?
Notes
- The reason why we get anxious about our life and future is because we lack faith. We lack faith that God’s ways are best and that He will provide for us in His time.
- The way that we overcome worry is by making His kingdom the highest priority (v. 33). We seek His kingdom and trust that He will add things that we need.
- We can be assured that God knows and cares for our every need. He desires us to trust Him and to seek the things of His kingdom.
Evening Reflection
Devote some time in prayer. Remember His great promises for you and continue to trust Him with every circumstance in your life. He is a gracious heavenly Father who knows us and loves us.