Reading your Bible for Today July 23

July 23: 1 Samuel 2:1-3

KJV Key Verse: 1 Samuel 2:2
2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Devotion:
No matter how much we trust and rely upon our friends and family, there will be a time when they do let us down – there will probably be a good excuse for it, but that will be the time when we realise none of us are not perfect. Maybe you have let your friends down at some stage and even had an argument when you told them you are not perfect. Whether we, or they, understand is up to how they look upon the situation in hand.

When things go wrong in our lives, it is quite often when we walk away from Christ, or turn our back on Him. Hannah’s prayer starts with the resounding words of how awesome, righteous and holy God is, God is perfect in all Him ways. Many Psalms also remind us of how “great”, “gracious”, “good”, “righteous” and “holy” He is. God is worthy to be praised.

If we are to keep our friends, we have to be friends with them – we cannot turn our backs on them and hope they stick with us when we need them. Hannah was acknowledging God as Lord of all and reminding us of our position as His children. We are not to be proud or arrogant when we know God. I’m not talking about just being proud about anything and everything but being proud in spite of God. He is our everything and we need to make sure He gets the praise and glory He alone deserves.

All we need do is to call out to Him in truth. When we do that, He is willing to fulfil our desires – to answer our prayers. He is willing to make sure we survive for as long as we are willing to do His work. If there is any way we are to be used to glorify His name, then He will make sure that we can do exactly that. We don't all have to go to college to learn about God. We don't all have to preach His word. We don't all have to write devotions... All we need do is to call upon His name in truth. As long as we are willing to call Christ our best friend, He is willing to stand up for us forever.

Points to Ponder:
How often do friend stand by your side when you are wrong?

As long as we are willing to stand up for Jesus, He will be by our side!