Dave's Diary

Prayer

I worship You, God of all wisdom, for You always know the right path. Teach me your ways through Your Word today. Amen.

Reading

Read Proverbs 23 slowly and prayerfully. Notice which verse particularly jumps out at you. Re-read that verse a few times, slowly. Write it down in your journal. Try to memorise it so that you can reflect on it without having to read from the page.

Prayerful Reflection

Now take that Proverb and think about your life at the moment. Is there a situation in your life to which that Proverb applies. Ask the Lord how this verse from His Word is telling you to live out His wisdom in that situation. Make notes in your journal.

A Devotional Thought

Proverbs 23: 
⁴ Be wise enough not to wear yourself out trying to get rich. ⁵ Your money can be gone in a flash, as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle. (GNT)

We only have one life and that life has a limited time span. How we spend the time and energy we have been given and what we invest them in is something we can never undo. Time has no reverse gear!

A number of Proverbs counsel us not to be lazy and waste our time doing worthless things, because that will lead only to poverty and failure. But on the other end of the scale, today’s Proverb warns us against investing all of our time and energy in striving to earn earthly treasure. Such “riches” are always temporary. Either we lose our “riches” to a bad investment, poor management, or some disaster beyond our control, or we get to the end of our life and realise we can’t take those riches with us and we have depleted our treasure of time and energy on something that is worthless in the end.

Although this Proverb speaks of material wealth, the same principle is true of other worldly measures of success. It could equally have said, “Be wise enough not to wear yourself out trying to … further your career … impress your friends … maximise your pleasure.” All of these are inevitably temporary “treasures” which are here today and gone tomorrow.

The Proverbs call for a balance in our lives. We are to work responsibly to provide for ourselves and our dependents, but in doing so we are to ensure that we also invest in the health of our relationships, the health of our bodies and, above all else, the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).

How will we invest our time and energy today?

Prayer

Lord, forgive me for the times I have invested my time and energy in earthly riches at the expense of my own health or my relationships with You and others. Please give me the wisdom to manage my time and energy well today. Amen.