Reading your Bible for today May 23

May 23 : Proverbs 14:1-4  

KJV Key Verse : Proverbs 14:1 
1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. 

Devotion : 
How many times have you heard someone say “behind every successful man is a woman?” We don't hear much of those great women behind their husbands – they diligently and lovingly work without seeking praise. That does not mean they do not deserve praise – far from it! Each one of us is an integral part of the family unit. Each one of us needs to make sure we hold up our part of the family how the others expect us to. Just like a building is not going to last long if the foundations are only dug properly in one corner, each one of us has to carry our own weight. If any one of us within the family is going to disrupt things, the whole family will be in danger of collapsing! 

God wants us to make sure we all build our own lives on the best possible foundations. If we are all going to pull in different directions – we will end up pulling things down. But if we all work together, we work to reinforce the family as a whole. God wants us to do this by making sure we all live for The Lord, through reverence and fear of God. Without that common and firm foundation, we are but nothing. 

It is not just the things we do, but the things we say which are going to make or break our family. If we start to work against each other through pride or greed, that same pride and greed will pull us apart and lead to a life where we will do nothing better than to pull things apart all around us. 

If we are not going to pull our own weight, then others will have to carry us if we hope to be able to stay together and work together. If we are not going to use our own strengths to help pull together, those same strengths will become our weaknesses which break us apart. Without an outward sign that we are actually using our strengths, others will perceive that we are wasting our strengths – or in other words, disregarding the work we can do just because we are too lazy to do anything about it! A family takes everyone to work together to make it a family, otherwise it is one or two people trying to carry everything! 

Points to Ponder : 
Do your parents keep having to ask you to do things? 

Do you do things for God without having to be asked?