The One Year Wisdom for Women Devotional: 365 Devotions through the Proverbs (68 page)

September 14

Learning to Learn

     
Apply your heart to instruction

          
and your ears to words of knowledge.

What does it mean to apply your heart and your ears to learn and understand? Well, it’s not a fast-food approach to God or his Word. Many of us are so busy we look for shortcuts and quick fixes in almost everything we do, but this approach just does not fly when it comes to our relationship with God. He is the God of the universe, our heavenly Father, and he deserves more.

I once saw a Bible in the store that claimed you could do all your devotional readings in one minute. The concept is you can spend sixty seconds to read several lines from the Bible and call it your devotion time. I know people are busy, but is that really devotion? To
devote
is “to set apart, to be given wholly or completely to a particular purpose.” And to be devoted is to feel or show great loyalty and fondness.

May I ask, do you love to learn from God? Do you desire to know him more? Do you desire to see the truth and wisdom of God’s Word change you from the inside out? God himself says to you, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3,
NKJV
).

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6,
NKJV
). Will you ask the Lord to give you a greater hunger for his Word? Will you ask him to use his Word to speak to your heart and show you something to apply to your life today?

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

“Apply your heart to instruction” is our call to action today. But many wonder why they do not learn well, why they don’t retain lessons they hear at church or on the radio. They don’t remember what they read. Is that you? You are not alone. One big problem is focus. We are multitasking, distracted, and unfocused. Here are some simple tools. Carry a little journal to church, write a few notes, and then share what you learned with someone. When you read a book, underline or highlight things you want to remember, then review them. Pay attention, focus your heart, and learning will come.

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 15:1–18:7; Galatians 1:1-24; Psalm 58:1-11; Proverbs 23:12

September 15

Discipline

     
Do not withhold discipline from a child;

          
if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

     
Punish him with the rod

          
and save his soul from death.

Clearly this proverb is saying that punishment is sometimes very necessary. But this definitely is not endorsing striking a child out of anger or frustration. This is always wrong. Proverbs 27:4 cautions us that “anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood.”

Mothers, we need to make sure that when we give punishment to our children, we do it in love. But love that gives no punishment is not really love either. Sometimes a child gets locked into a behavior that, left uncorrected, could ruin their life. Picture this. When someone takes hold of a live electric wire, the voltage grabs hold of them, and they cannot let go until they die from the deadly result. The only thing that can be done is to strike them with a wooden plank at the point of contact—not to hurt them but to free them.

Years ago, our seventeen-year-old niece lived with us. She had not been used to consistent rules at home, so we had some challenges. She sometimes chafed at simple things like curfew and chores and limits regarding boys. But one night she told me about a friend at school. Our niece had been complaining to her about how tough it was to live with restrictions. Her friend started to cry. She said, “Oh, how I wish someone at home cared enough about me to just say no sometimes.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

There are many ways to discipline a child, including time-outs and removal of privileges. Focus on the Family describes two more:

• Natural consequences. For example, if your child refuses to eat dinner, instead of developing a power struggle, allow him or her to go to bed without eating. He or she will naturally be hungry in the morning and will be certain to eat. (Appropriate for children two and older.)
  
• Logical consequences. This is a punishment that fits the crime. Suppose your child throws a ball in the house and breaks a vase. He or she could be required to work off the value of the vase or use allowance money to buy a new one.
  

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 19:1–21:17; Galatians 2:1-16; Psalm 59:1-17; Proverbs 23:13-14

September 16

Instruct, Instill, and Inspire

     
My son, if your heart is wise,

     
My heart will rejoice, indeed, I myself;

     
Yes, my inmost being will rejoice

     
When your lips speak right things.

John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth” (3 John 1:4,
NKJV
). Moms, do you tell your children that they bless you? Do you catch them being good and let them know? Do you look for their strengths and tell them? We can get in the habit of pointing out their failures so often that they see themselves in our eyes as failures.

Do your children know that you value their character even more than any outward beauty or accomplishment? Sometimes we teach our kids that performance or accomplishment is the bottom line to life, and the only way they can please us is by being popular, or smart, or athletic. Will you pray about this? Will you ask the Lord to show you how to teach your kids that character matters? Will you pray and ask the Lord to show you how to teach your kids to be wise, and honest, and kind, and forgiving? Moms, teach your kids how to use the power of their words for good to encourage other kids who are discouraged. Teach them to speak the truth. Teach them to stand up for truth.

We, as moms, as women, have a powerful influence in the world around us, but the most important lessons cannot just be taught with words. They must be caught from us. It’s been said, “There is no greater gift that you can give your children than a good example.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Fill your world with noble stories and songs and poems to raise the bar and challenge you. Never stop growing, and you will inspire others to follow.

     
There will always be something to do, my girl;

     
There will always be wrongs to right;

     
There will always be need for a noble one

     
And those unafraid to fight.

     
There will always be honor to guard, my girl;

     
There will always be hills to climb,

     
And tasks to do, and battles new

     
From now till the end of time.

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 22:1–24:23; Galatians 2:17–3:9; Psalm 60:1-12; Proverbs 23:15-16

September 17

Envious of the Wicked?

     
Do not let your heart envy sinners,

     
But be zealous for the fear of the L
ORD
all the day;

     
For surely there is a hereafter,

     
And your hope will not be cut off.

It’s a very natural experience to look around and see mean, selfish, ungodly people who win and prosper. Sometimes it just gets to us. We think
, God, that is just not fair. Why
, we ask,
should the bad, disobedient people get good things and those who love and serve you suffer?

This proverb gives us instruction and encouragement and comfort. It gives us comfort knowing that we’re not the only ones who sometimes feel that way. Even David felt that way. He said, “I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3,
NKJV
). David once served under a prideful, jealous king who wanted to kill him. It is times like these that don’t seem to make sense and cause us to be frustrated.

What then should we do? Our proverb today instructs us. Don’t envy wicked people. All they get are their external victories and temporal prizes, but internally sin has conquered their souls, and that is too great a price. They are to be pitied rather than envied.

And, lastly, our proverb comforts us by saying, “Surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.” Let’s let Jesus have the final word. He said “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33,
NKJV
).

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

In all situations, the great victory shout and defining attitude is “be zealous for the fear of the L
ORD
all the day.” To obey this does not lead us to victory; to obey it
is
victory. Have you felt discouraged seeing others who don’t deserve it excel or be blessed? Our heavenly Father “gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike” (Matthew 5:45). To “fear the Lord” in a practical way merely means to trust that your life is in his hands. Trust him when there’s hardship, trust him when life isn’t fair, trust him to work all things together for your good (see Romans 8:28).

One Year Bible Reading

Isaiah 25:1–28:13; Galatians 3:10-22; Psalm 61:1-8; Proverbs 23:17-18