Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

Jesus taught an essential kingdom principle to His disciples while they were juggling for position. He told them that he who would be truly great in the kingdom must be the servant of all. Service is a culture of the kingdom and it is equated to greatness. Mariam Wright Edelman said, “Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in spare time.” God owns the earth; and the rent He wants us to pay is render service to people who cross our paths. Service was the defining rule of David’s life. When the Bible first introduced him, he was serving the family by watching over the little flocks. Then we find him running errand for his father, Jesse by taking provisions to his brothers and their captain in the frontline. He served Saul the first king of Israel with his talent of playing the harp. Of course, he put his life on the line to serve the entire nation when he took on Goliath the champion of Gath.

Service is a culture of the kingdom and it is equated to greatness…service was not reserved for spare time or happy moments; it was a way of life…Every service initiative you take brings you a step closer to reward.

In our text, that culture of service showed up again. Though he was mourning the loss of his camp, he still had enough service sense to attend to a total stranger who was hanging on to life precipitously. For David, service was not reserved for spare time or happy moments; it was a way of life. The interesting thing is that all the opportunities that came his way came in the context of service. By ministering to the Egyptian, he was able to recover all that they had lost and got much spoil besides. Every service initiative you take brings you a step closer to reward.

A principle canvassed in scripture is that of “as occasion serves you”. This is coined from the words of Samuel to Saul. The Seer asked Saul to watch for a number of signs to signal divine backing. He further instructed him that the moment those signs played out, he should do as occasion demanded. This principle may be the key to survival of an enterprise or a vision. Santini SMS is a cycling clothing company in Italy. It was established in 1965. As the Coronavirus pandemic brought many things to a halt, including cycling competitions, the company made a strategic shift not only to remain afloat but also make contributions towards meeting a need. The pandemic led to shortage of face masks, which was an essential commodity in Italy and the world at large. So with a little re-tooling, they started producing masks en masse. Beyond finding a means to making money, they were saving lives.

There are moments that circumstances will force us to make important shift if we must survive…Appropriate response to a challenging situation can open a new vista for greater opportunity and advancement. It will all depend on your readiness to adjust your mind as occasion may demand.

There are moments that circumstances will force us to make important shift if we must survive. I often think of Moses as a Bible character that underscored this lesson well. His first forty years of life was lived as a prince in the palace of Pharaoh. Times quickly changed when he smote the Egyptian out of zeal and had to flee Egypt, leaving all of its privileges behind. He did not bemoan his new reality but shifted and got a job as a shepherd in the wilderness. There are things you may not be able to control; but you can always control your response to what happens. Appropriate response to a challenging situation can open a new vista for greater opportunity and advancement. It will all depend on your readiness to adjust your mind as occasion may demand.

Abraham demonstrated what real worship means. When he was asked to go and sacrifice his only beloved son, Isaac, he obeyed promptly. His remark to his servants as they approached the mount on the third day was definitive. “And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”” Genesis 22:5 NKJV. He considered what he was about to do as worship. Erroneously, many people think that worship takes place in the context of singing. Abraham wasn’t going to sing when he was going to Moriah, he was going to submit to the will of God. Worship is not all about singing. It is submission to the will of God, particularly when that will is at cross-purpose with our own will or when it involves laying down something of a great price.

Worship is not all about singing. It is submission to the will of God, particularly when that will is at cross-purpose with our own will or when it involves laying down something of a great price…When we worship in earnest, the heaven opens up over us.

As can be seen in the case of Abraham, those who worship God genuinely always come out the better for it. After Abraham worshipped by laying down Isaac, God brought His covenant with him to a whole new level. He swore that in Abraham’s seed shall all the earth be blessed. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus. Job worshipped after he had lost everything. Before the book of Job closed, we see how his fortune had been restored twice over. In our text, the aftermath of David’s worship in difficult situation was the birth of Solomon. God loved him so much that He gave him the name Jedidiah. He went on to become the richest and the wisest in his days. When we worship in earnest, the heaven opens up over us.

Wisdom cannot be reduced to a mere footnote because it is described as the main thing. “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7 NKJV. The writer went on to detail the blessings that will flow from getting wisdom. They include promotion and honour, grace and glory. Our immediate focus is to learn how to get the wisdom that is so eloquently recommended. Our approach is to examine the life of someone who demonstrated wisdom. Our text states that as far as wisdom was concerned, Daniel towered above the wise men of Babylon on a scale of ten to one. How did Daniel access such level of wisdom?

Wisdom cannot be reduced to a mere footnote because it is described as the main thing…learn how to get the wisdom that is so eloquently recommended…If we do what Daniel did, we also will be blessed with wisdom beyond compare.

Firstly, we must focus our attention on his life of consecration. When he and his colleagues were recruited into the king’s service, they were offered a portion of the king’s meal but they refused to partake of it because the meal had a tint of idolatry. They chose conformity with the law of God above their pleasure. Secondly, Daniel was a man of prayer. Even at the risk of losing his life, he prayed three times a day. Finally, Daniel was a man of scriptures. “In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Daniel 9:2 NKJV. The Bible enjoins us to follow in the footsteps of those who have obtained. If we do what Daniel did, we also will be blessed with wisdom beyond compare.