DCLM Daily Manna 23 July 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Don’t Be A Disgraceful Christian
TOPIC: Don’t Be A Disgraceful Christian (DCLM Daily Manna 23 July 2023)
KEY VERSE: “Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they…” (Ezekiel 16:52).
TEXT: Ezekiel 16:44-52 (KJV)
44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
45 Thou art thy mother’s daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was an Hittite, and your father an Amorite.
46 And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but, as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.
48 As I live, saith the Lord God, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.
49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.
51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done.
52 Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.
MESSAGE:
Robert Arthington lived in a single room, cooked his own meals and shared his friendship with students who were in need. Yet he gave tremendous amounts of money during his lifetime to Christian missions. When he died, his estate was worth about five million dollars, which he willed to missions. Arthington was determined to make that kind of self-denial the pattern for his life.
From our text, a rich young man came to Jesus to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus first gave him the basic requirements. He hastily concluded that he has met those conditions. Jesus knew what his problem was – his trust in riches. He then asked him to go sell all he had and follow him. A requirement the rich man was not able to meet.
We need to make the distinction here between being wealthy and trusting in wealth. Jesus did not condemn this man because of his riches. The problem here was his insatiable trust in wealth; to the extent that his riches became his idol. Anything we hold dear to our hearts or that is more valuable in our eyes than God becomes an idol. It could be money, property, our position or even self. Once we can abandon God in favour of a thing, that thing becomes more important than God in our lives and an idol to us.
We must not trust in riches like this young man, to the extent that we are willing to abandon faith in Christ and heaven in favour of an earthly, ephemeral thing. An end will come one day and everything we put our confidence upon shall be left behind. Our prayer today should be that the Lord will help us to give Him first place in our lives.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
The life you live determines your relationship with the Lord.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
1 Chronicles 13-17
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.