Posted on 10/17/2019 7:22:39 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth” (Proverbs 17:8).
There are a number of ways of looking at this. The gift of life. If you have the gift of everlasting life, that is pretty precious. It is hard to believe that some do not truly appreciate what they have and do not use it to the glory of God, but it is a fact that there are some like that. In the sense of that gift, we might think about this. Notice that it does three things:
- First, the gift of God, the gift of salvation is precious. How much is it worth? How much would you sell it for, if you could? What kind of price tag would you put on it? How much is the Blood of Jesus Christ worth? You couldn’t put a price tag on it. It is priceless: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers” (I Peter 1:18). Jesus Christ compared it to gaining the whole world, and yet that is not worth an exchange for a single soul.
- Second, the gift is purifying. “. . . withersoever it turneth,” your salvation will turn you. It will turn you from sin unto righteousness. If you will cultivate your salvation and take a hold of it in your life, it will purify you. It will help you to turn from things that are wrong as a Christian grows in the Lord. Our thankfulness to Him and our desire to please Him will turn you from those things that displease Him to things that do please Him.
- Last, it will prosper you. It will prosper you and it will be prosperous to others. Now, this idea of prosperity has been hijacked by the “Name it and Claim it crowd.” These bunch of howling wolves have turned God into a Vegas slot machine that only pays out and never loses. John tells us what it means: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 2). It is one that recognizes and enjoys his spiritual blessings in Christ to the fullest measure. It is good health, and Proverbs tells us over and over how to have good health through God’s Word and sound biblical wisdom.
Let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread!
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