The Fool

Psalm 14:1-3 – The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (NIV)

Sometimes I see those who take risks with their lives, in particular, young men. They go through red lights, or drive the wrong way up one-way streets where I live. I guess they think they are invincible or exceptional in some way, above the law. Of course, most of the time, they get away with it!

There are also those celebrities who seem to be able to live foolish lifestyles and yet not be called to account. Equally, there are those directors of multinational companies who, just for personal, short-term profit, cause the death, hardship, and suffering of those whom they do not know or care about.

Not that I am without fault, and that makes it even harder. There are things that have made me, too, foolish in God's eyes. They have separated me from the love of God: wrong actions, lack of faith, impatience, pride, selfishness, indifference, and ignorance, etc. I have become a casualty, picked off because I have blatantly, or less often, unwittingly (both work just the same), put me out on a limb, away from the presence of God!

Of course, it does not have to be this way.

As I go out along a limb, it causes me to focus and ask the question, if the powers of darkness are here tempting me, where am I before my God? The answer to this is: too far away for my own good! So I run back quickly to safety.

If we are whole-hearted in our desire to be forgiven, it is at this point the devil usually flees, sometimes returning with a further round of testing to see if we are serious! He knows he cannot compete with the prayer for grace and the redemptive love and joy found through receiving Jesus!

John 15:2 – He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (NIV)

Prayer: Lord, we rejoice that You can set us free from the slavery to sin. You desire to clean the wound, patch us up, and send us out into the world again. Forgive us for our shortcomings and grant us acceptance into Your presence once more today, because we come in the name of Jesus. Shine the light of Your Holy Spirit into the darkest corners of our being, so that Your fruit will grow, bringing new revelation into our lives today. Amen.

Forward this devotional     Share this devotional on Facebook     Like PresbyCan on Facebook