Reading your Bible for today November 20

November 20: 1 Kings 12:6-9

KJV Key Verse: 1 Kings 12:7
7 And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.

Devotion:
In order for people to be able to trust you, you have to show them you trust them. In order for people to love you, you have to show them you love them. We will not get anything for free from other people and we will not be able to take things when they are not ours. We may find a short-term loophole, but in the long run, we are the ones who need to show the way before people will follow our way.

You do not have to be a leader in order to carry out these rules. We should be adhering to them in everyday life; love before you expect love, give before you expect gifts, help before you expect help. If you want someone to be your friend, then you have to show them you want to be their friend. Most of the time when we make new friends it is because we both make that initial move towards friendship. Most of the time when we show love it is because both make that move. In reality, one had to take the lead, but when we look back it seems so natural... and that is because it does become natural when we are in it the right way!

God wants the most natural love between us and Him. That is why He made the first move, so we will know He first loved us. He wants us to be able to trust Him, so He showed us trust first. He wants us to serve Him, so He first served us. How much better example could we hope for? And yet we do exactly what Rehoboam did, we turn to the popular people rather than the people who we need to turn to. We turn our backs on the good relationships in order to follow the popular ones. We turn our backs on good people in order to seek out the popular people. What example are we showing others when we turn our backs on them? What example do we show when we turn our backs on God just for a bit more fun in our lives?

Points to Ponder:
Have you hurt someone just because you ignored them?

Are you hurting Christ by ignoring Him?