Today's Verse

"Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?" — Job 12:12 NIV

Devotion

Once, you were young and you were strong. You thought you could do it all. You were a Christian, but you were a worldly Christian (I Corinthians 3:3), still stuck in your personal version of Egyptian sin and slavery. Of course, you didn't see it that way back then. You thought you were at the forefront of everything the Lord was doing in the earth and you thought it was the older generation that was holding things up. It didn't dawn on you that the thoughts and desires of your heart had more to do with selfish ambition than with anything the Lord was doing.

Later, your youthful desires and ambitions suffered some setbacks and failures. You weren't as young or as strong as you used to be and you began to wonder if you would ever recover from the things that happened to you. You were in the midst of the wilderness period of your spiritual journey and there were many tests and trials. Although you faltered on more than one occasion, although you stumbled as well, you stuck with the Lord through it all (Psalm 37:24). It didn't always make sense to you, but you trusted the Lord to make it all work out.

Later yet, you entered the promised land part of your spiritual journey. Things were starting to make some sense to you. You could see that the trajectory of your life was necessary for what you were about to do. The experiences you had in Egypt and the wilderness were now put to use in conquering and taking possession of your personal promised land. After all, you didn't have the time or the energy to make the kind of mistakes you made earlier in life. There were too many obstacles to overcome and too many enemies to defeat for that kind of thing.

Now, firmly ensconced in your personal promised land, you can look back on your life and see that, among other things, it was a journey from foolishness to wisdom, from futility to fulfilment. Although it was difficult (Genesis 47:9), it was necessary for your personal development. You wouldn't be where you are now without the things that happened to you, even the bad things (Romans 8:28).

Now, there's one main thing left to do with your life. It's to sing the new song the Lord has put in your mouth, the hymn of praise to Him for what He's done for you. If you do, then many others will see and fear and put their trust in Him, just like you did (Psalm 40:3).

Created to encourage and strengthen your faith, Verse of the Day and Devotion includes a daily Bible verse and devotion to help you grow through God's Word. We hope you are encouraged by today's Verse of the Day and Devotion.