Your Refreshing Daily Devotional

An argument broke out among the disciples about position and placement. A few verses before our text, they had disputed among themselves who would be the next boss. That was the opportunity Jesus needed to explain how things work in the Kingdom of God. In the world, the boss would normally sit down and have everything at his beck and call. Jesus reversed that order. Though He was the greatest of all, He was busy serving everybody. He took the lesson about service to a new height when He washed the feet of His disciples. That was a task meant for maids in the house of the Jews.

Those who are mindful of positions and power give themselves away as being immature in the kingdom. Mature children of God live to serve because they know serving is living.

Someone had made an insightful comment that service is the rent we pay for living on this earth. It is something that we cannot outgrow. The Bible observed that David served his generation according to the will of God. Jesus who came as the offspring of David followed in the same path of service. We can safely say that service runs in their lineage. What we need to add today is the fact that believers are of that lineage as well. Through faith, we are grafted into the family of God where service is the order of the day. The disciples who at the beginning of their contact with Jesus jockeyed for position finally got the message as they imbibed a life of service. Those who are mindful of positions and power give themselves away as being immature in the kingdom. Mature children of God live to serve because they know serving is living.

God has a way of graphically teaching us some lessons. I experienced this during the Covid-19 pandemic. I returned from a tour of United Kingdom and the United States on March 20, 2020. Miraculously, God kept me from contracting the Coronavirus, though the places I visited had been the epicenters of the plague. Shortly after that, the federal government of Nigeria announced a lockdown of Lagos, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory, an initiative which many state governors adopted immediately. I operate a highly mobile ministry, and I started wondering how I was going to cope. I felt trapped at one spot like a prisoner.

…those in physical prison are countless multitudes that are in other forms of imprisonment like sickness. They all constitute mission opportunities for which the Lord will greatly reward us in time to come.

For the first time, I began to have an idea of the plight of Paul in the prison and John on the isle of Patmos. In our liberty and prosperity, it is quite easy to forget that not everybody is having a smooth sail at life. People in physical prison for whatever reason are having a hard time. It is even harder for those that are locked up though innocent. There are people in prison for the sake of the gospel. The least we can do is pray for them, that their faith should not waver. Where possible, we should render physical and financial assistance to their families while waiting for their speedy release. In addition to those in physical prison are countless multitudes that are in other forms of imprisonment like sickness. They all constitute mission opportunities for which the Lord will greatly reward us in time to come.

Even when you have a message from the Lord, you will still have to engage wisdom in delivering it. Samuel once had a task to go anoint one of the sons of Jesse as a replacement for Saul. He was afraid that Saul would kill him if he heard of his mission. That fear was not unwarranted; so God had to teach him how to go about it. Paul said he preached the gospel in private to those who were of reputation when he got to Jerusalem. That was not a respect of person, it was wisdom so that his labour would not go fruitless. In our text, Nathan had to engage a parable to deliver God’s message and bring David to a point of conviction and repentance.

Even when you have a message from the Lord, you will still have to engage wisdom in delivering it…The beginning of the journey into apostasy is when we no longer feel the tugging of the conscience when we do wrong.

Having said that, it is intriguing that David needed a third party to tell him that he had fallen out with God. Apparently, by the time Nathan came with his parable, Uriah had been killed and David had married Bathsheba his wife. At this time too, Bathsheba had been delivered of a baby boy. We know this because Nathan said the child would die. So some nine months to one year must have elapsed between the sin of David and the time Nathan showed up. David not realising that anything had gone wrong is concerning. It is a pointer to a heart that had grown callous in dealing with issues and in walking with God. At some point, David would despise himself for cutting the edge of Saul’s garment. How did he get to a point of murdering someone and not be immediately troubled? This points to the fact that the heart can grow dull in the things of God. Consciences that are seared with hot iron, as Paul said, will make a shipwreck of their faith ultimately. The beginning of the journey into apostasy is when we no longer feel the tugging of the conscience when we do wrong.

The idea of the big picture is captured in our text. After years of running from pillar to post to escape Saul’s sword, David found a season of peace. Instead of having to “illegally” ask for the priest’s bread or beg a Nabal for food, he came to a season of abundance. David sensed a new season had come upon him. As he wrote in a Psalm, he perceived the lines starting to fall upon him in pleasant places. However, David understood that whatever was happening to him had a bigger lesson attached. God brought him into a new estate because of His people. His new found peace and prosperity was to better equip him to serve the people of God.

Catching men for God was the big picture behind the great catch of fish. Without the having the big picture, you may think that it is all about you.

The higher one rises in life, the greater will be the need to maintain a sense of decorum, humility, and gratitude. It is quite easy to develop a larger-than-life attitude when breakthrough comes. Invariably, a proud assessment of one’s position will mark the beginning of the end one way or another – a beginning of the end of greatness or of a quality walk with God. The panacea to this canker that eats deep into the life of many people is having a big picture. In other words, one has to understand the reason why God has brought a lift in the first place. A haul of fish followed a night of emptiness in Peter’s life. However, the catch was only to connect him with the path of destiny. Catching men for God was the big picture behind the great catch of fish. Without the having the big picture, you may think that it is all about you.

Our annual MISSION TO THE NATIONS this year took us to Zambia and Zimbabwe. The day we arrived Lusaka, our host had positioned an airport staff to take my wife and I to the VIP lounge while other team members were at the border control. When I saw the enthusiasm with which they received us, I told them that in divine economy there is no replacement for human beings. Even if it were possible to position a robot to say a word of welcome to us on arrival, it would still lack the warmth that the brethren supplied. It is often the case that when God wants to execute His plan for a person or group of persons, He makes provision for other human beings to make input.

While you may have experienced terrible disappointment from some people, be aware also that it is through people that certain extant plan of God for your life will be realized.

Moses understood the role of man in divine economy and had to literally beg Hobab his brother-in-law to accompany them. The man initially refused; and you can almost hear Moses begging him. “So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes” Numbers 10:31. In our text, David asked help of a soldier that he had nursed back to health in order to locate the camp of the Amalekites that had seized their families and belongings. Here is the point: both Moses and David heard the word of the Lord in their respective pursuits. Both of them had the assurance of divine backing. However, that did not rule out their need of human input in the pursuit of their goals. While you may have experienced terrible disappointment from some people, be aware also that it is through people that certain extant plan of God for your life will be realized.