September 7 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Proverbs 23:15-26:

¹⁵My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
¹⁶Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
¹⁷Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
¹⁸For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
¹⁹Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
²¹For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
²²Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
²³Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
²⁴The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
²⁵Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
²⁶My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

Devotional

Divine wisdom speaks to us in the book of Proverbs. It is that eternal wisdom revealed to us more fully in Jesus Christ, who is our wisdom. "God has made foolish the wisdom of this world, " and has manifested "Christ as the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

It is Christ who wants possession of our hearts, our whole hearts. He does not want a divided heart. We cannot serve God and mammon. May we then willingly and gladly surrender our hearts unto him; and may God grant us, "according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that ye (we), being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye (we) might be filled with all the fulness of God."

"And let thine eyes observe (or take delight in) my ways." If Christ rules in our hearts by his Spirit, we shall have regard to his ways, and take delight in them. We shall "forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding." "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom . . . She is more precious than rubies . . . Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."

Take our hearts and let them be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Prayer

O God, we thank Thee that Thou dost deign to dwell in our hearts. We pray Thee, take full possession of them. May Thy Spirit rule in us, that we may no longer go our own way, or do our own will; but may our whole live be in harmony with Thy holy will. Help us to keep Thy commandments. May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus; and may the God of peace be with us always. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: 1 Cor. 1:30, 20, 24; Eph; 3:16-19; Prov. 23:26; 9:6; Prov. 3:13, 15, 17.

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