Author: londavis@hotmail.com

Our text for today is 1 Corinthians 13:5

1 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

Love “does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil.”

Everyone says we need to love one another, but that statement begs the question of “what is love?” To answer that vital question, God has given is 1 Corinthians 13. In verses 4 though 8 of that chapter, we have the great definition of love. It is important to note that the these verses do not define love, except that they define what love does. Those who say they love you but do not treat you with love, do not love. I don’t mean that we don’t sometimes act temporarily in a non-loving way, but rather that love has a long view of how we treat one another.

One of my favorite verses on defining what love does is verse 5.

I call your attention to the last three words of this great verse. It says simply, love, “thinks no evil.” What does it mean to “think no evil?”

I was reminded of this behavior of love recently when I called my sweet sister-in-law back because I had asked a personal question and did not want to be offensive. Her response warmed my heart. I’ll quote it. No, I “know you asked only because you care about my well being. Thank you for asking.”

Too many times when we hear something that might be either offensive or caring, we jump to the worse way we can take it. Love doesn’t do that!

One time my former youth minister told me that he had commented to our secretary that even when he did not agree with me, he knew that I only wanted what was best for him. That too warmed my heart.

The people who take everything you say or do in the worst way it can be understood, do not really love you. They may say they do, but according to the Holy Spirit, love “Thinks no evil.”

To love someone means to look for the best way to understand. When that six-month old baby cries in the night, no loving parent things the baby is being mean. We know they are hungry, or scared, or hurting. We look for the best. To love others means do the same thing for them.

Lonnie Davis

Our text for today is Acts 8:26:

Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert.

It seemed like a simple command to just go to a certain road. There was no “I have a person for you to talk to,” or “there you will lead someone to Christ.” Later, God did give Philip the opportunity to tell someone about God, but when the command came, it was a “just do it” thing. Just go!

 Philip did “just do it.” There were many human reasons why he should not have gone. (1) He was doing a great work of evangelism where he was. (2) Where God told him to go was out the middle of nowhere. Surely he could do more good with all the people where he was. (3) It was an 80-mile trip and he had to walk.

Being a follower of God sometimes means doing what we do not understand. This was one of those times. For all the good that Philip did while he was converting people in Samaria, we know nothing of their stories. Because he went to this deserted place, we have this great story of the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. For 2,000 years, people have proclaimed this story and led people to Christ.

Contained in this story is the real secret to being a great Christian. The secret? Whatever God wants you to do, just do it!

Over the years, I have reminded Christians of one great law: “When you know what God wants you to do, then the decision is over.” After that, everything else is how, not what! 

 Lonnie Davis

Does God Give Up on Us?

Romans 1:28 

“Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.”

Does this verse tell us that God gives up on us? No! God does not give up on us, but he will not force himself upon us. 

One modern translation captures this thought well by translating it as “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking.” God does not force you into a reprobate mind, but rather he just sadly leaves us where our mind has already gone.

One can tell this has happened when reprobate things no longer trouble us. Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”

Years ago I worked for a large company that would send us out to work as teams. This meant we were all far from our families. Many of the “family men” who found themselves far away from their families would go to bars at night and give themselves over to a “reprobate mind” and do things they ought not to do. I have my own flaws, but that was not one of them. I would stay in my hotel room alone and study. One night one of the other men came back early. He stopped by my room to say hello. He was a former minister and a family man. He talked about how he had been successful with women that night. I asked him, “Doesn’t it bother you to do these things?” He thought for a second and then said, “What bothers me is that it doesn’t bother me.” 

God will never give up on us and push us away, but he will give us our free choice. Choose wisely.

Lonnie Davis

Our Text for today is Romans 1:28 

“Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.”

Does this verse tell us that God gives up on us? No! God does not give up on us, but he will not force himself upon us. 

One modern translation captures this thought well by translating it as “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking.” God does not force you into a reprobate mind, but rather he just sadly leaves us where our mind has already gone.

One can tell this has happened when reprobate things no longer trouble us. Isaiah 5:20 warns, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”

Years ago, I worked for a large company that would send us out to work as teams. This meant we were all far from our families. Many of the “family men” who found themselves far away from their families would go to bars at night and give themselves over to a “reprobate mind” and do things they ought not to do. I have my own flaws, but that was not one of them. I would stay in my hotel room alone and study. One night one of the other men came back early. He stopped by my room to say hello. He was a former minister and a family man. He talked about how he had been successful with women that night. I asked him, “Doesn’t it bother you to do these things?” He thought for a second and then said, “What bothers me is that it doesn’t bother me.” 

God will never give up on us and push us away, but he will give us our free choice. 

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is John 13:34-35.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – Jesus

Samuel Augustus lived from 1803 to 1870. He was a Texas lawyer, politician, land baron and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. 

That is a great resume, but it gets more interesting. As a land baron, he was also a rancher. Either he did not believe in branding his cattle or else he was just forgetful. While all his rancher neighbors branded their cattle, Samuel usually did not. The neighbors finally got used to his strange ways and when they found his cattle mixing with theirs, they knew which were his and didn’t complain. They just referred to an unbranded cow as “Mavericks.” You see, Samuel’s last name was Maverick and the unbranded cows were considered to be “Maverick’s.” 

This idea stuck and even today is applied to people who go their own way and do their own thing. They are sometimes called mavericks.

I thought this was interesting because in Christianity there should be no “mavericks.” 

Oh, we are uniquely ourselves, but as Christians, we all have characteristics that show we are Christians. That is what Jesus said in today’s scripture reading, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciple.” 

Pauls recognized this and said, “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” (Galatians 6:17). 

We also need to live our life in such a way that people can see that we are disciples of Jesus.

Lonnie Davis

Our text is Matthew 16:13-15.

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Do you see the two questions that even we have to answer?

1. Jesus asked, “Who do men say that I am?” 

Your answer to that question depends on the kind of people you have around you. If your friends and associates cannot answer this question, then you need to involve yourself with people who know Jesus. Of course we should not drop every acquaintance who does not know Jesus. If we did, then we would never lead anyone to Jesus. So that you can lead people to Jesus, associate with those who do not know Jesus. So that you will not become spiritually weak, associate with people who do know Jesus.

2. “Who do you say I am?”

The answer to this question involves two parts: 

First, do you know who Jesus is? Peter knew the answer, “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16). Everything we know and love about Peter is because he knew that answer. If we too know that answer, it will define who we are.

Second, although the text does not openly ask it, I believe it is implied by the task that Jesus gave them. That question is Do you believe what you say you know, that Jesus is the Christ? Their answer and your answer is not one that you have to express, it is one that you show by how you live.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Hebrews 9:7

“Into the Most Holy place went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.”

If you are a student of the Word, then you know that they temple was divided into two parts. The Holy Place where the priests would go daily. It contained the table of bread, the alter of incense, and various other items that were used daily by the priests. The second room was special. It was called the “Holy of Holies” and only the High Priest could enter and then only once a year. (Hebrews 9, Exodus 30). 

The second room, The Holy of Holies contained only one piece of furniture – the Ark of the Covenant. There was no place on earth more dear to the Israelites than the Holy of Holies. If anyone other than the High Priest tried to enter that room, they would put to death. Before the High Priest would enter the room on that once a year sacrifice, the other priests would tie a rope around his foot so that if something happened to him, they could pull him out of the room. 

As you can see, this was a serious and holy place. There was only one time this was violated. We know this from the historian, Josephus. In 63 AD, the Roman general Pompey went to Jerusalem to quash a rebellion and settle other matters. While there he decided he want to see this Most Holy Place that he had heard so much about. He wanted to see the God that the Jews worshiped. As he and his men tried to enter  the temple they faced resistance from Israelite guards. Of course they were no match for the Roman army. Some of the Israelites committed suicide rather than see the Temple violated.

Pompey entered the Holy Place, saw all the gold, then pulled back the curtain and looked into the Holy of Holies. He briefly looked and then walked away. 

What did he see? He saw nothing! For hundreds of years, the room was empty. The Ark of the Covenant was gone. Presumably lost at the beginning of the Babylonian captivity more than 500 years earlier.

For hundreds of years, the High Priest would go into an empty room and make atonement before an Ark that was missing. Even during the time of Jesus, the Holy of Holies was empty.

It is wonderful that today we do not enter into an empty room to pray or worship, but rather enter into the presence of the Lord. As Ephesians 3:12 says, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

Lonnie Davis

Maybe the most interesting Judge in the Bible is Sampson. I call him, God’s Superman. In Judges 16, a worldly woman whom he loves tries to trick him into telling her the secret of his strength. He fools her and fools her. Finally we read in Judges 16:15

“Then Delilah said to Samson, ‘How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart Is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me where your great strength lies.’”

This may be one of the perplexing verses in the Bible. Samson was a flawed but a great man. He is mentioned in the Faith’s hall of fame (Hebrews 11), but he is blind to the love of his life, Delilah. A woman who obviously does not love him back. Three times she asked him the secret of his strength. Three times he deceives her and she tests him by trying to weaken him. After each time she called out “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” You would think he would have figured her out, but he did not.

She nagged him until he finally told her the truth about his strength. Finally, she weakens him for real and calls for his enemies. They came and easily captured him, blinded him, and make a slave of him. 

Why couldn’t Samson see what kind of woman she was? The answer is found in verse 4 of this chapter.

“It happened that he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.” (16:4).

He could not see her flaws because he loved her. It is as simple as that. He was willfully blind to her evil because he loved her. 

The great lesson for us is this: Be careful about what who or what you love. Of course you should love your family, but when it comes to things of the world and worldly people, guard your heart. What you love can become your blind spot.

Lonnie Davis

How to Live in Peace

Our Scripture for today is Romans 12:18

“If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

We could wish that we might always find peace and goodness in others. Sometimes, this is not possible. When you watch the news and see the world around you, you know there is evil in this world, and sometimes it gets into the hearts of people.

Sadly, sometimes the peaceless hearts are not from the news but from life around you. 

Since it is not possible to always live in peace with some, here is the command: make sure it is not you who causes the strife. As the scripture says, “As much as it depends on you.”

The story is told of a man who was shipwrecked on an island for five years. Finally, one day a ship found him. When he was found there were three huts on the island. 

“What are the three buildings?” he was asked.

He answered, “That first building is the house where I live. The second building is where I go to church.”

He was asked about the third building. “Well,” he said, “that third building is where I used to go to church.”

You see, some folks cannot find peace, even with themselves. If a man or woman cannot be at peace with themselves, they will never be at peace with you.

Love them anyway! 

Lonnie Davis

Today’s Verse is Matthew 9:29

“According to your faith let it be done to you.” 

Sometimes the Bible teaches us things in the overlooked words on a page. Look at today’s verse. Two blind men were following Jesus. Since it was Jesus and they were blind, you know what they wanted from him. Of course, he healed them. Jesus didn’t just restore their sight, he gave them these words of wisdom, “According to your faith let it be done to you.” 

The Bible is filled with examples of “according to your faith let it be done to you.”

Two great examples of this:

When Israel crossed the flooding river to enter the promised land, Joshua tells us, “The Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.” – Joshua 3:15-16. Only after their feet touched the water’s edge, did the river dry up.

Ten lepers came to Jesus for healing. When Jesus saw them and decided to heal them, “he said, ‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.” – Luke 17:14 When were they healed? It was only after they started their journey to the hope.

Do you get the theme? Life’s blessing come when you march toward the water. They come after you start your journey to hope. It takes faith to do these things, but remember: Blessings only come “according to your faith.”

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Matthew 5:38-39

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

The short way to say this is: “Don’t do ‘eye for an eye’, but rather, ‘turn the other cheek.’”

Based on how little this teaching is followed, it is obvious that this is against our nature. When someone is ugly to us, we want to get even. Some proudly say, “I don’t get mad, I get even.”

I once heard an older lady put this in a way that I will never forget. Maybe you won’t either. When she was a little girl, her mother greatly favored her sisters and abused her. The decades rolled on and her mother got older and needed help. She needed to live with and be taken care of by one of her daughters. I’m sure you know who took her mother in and provided for her. Of course, it was the daughter who was treated badly as a little girl. 

In her old age, the mother had continued to be self-centered and thoughtless. One friend who knew her story asked her why she took her mother in. After all, the mother didn’t deserve the kindness and sacrifice of the daughter. 

So how do you answer that? It would be a great answer to say that is what Jesus would do, but her real answer surprised me. She simply said, “It is not about her. It is about me.”

When someone is rude to you, when someone is short with you, when someone is unkind to you, the way you respond to them is not about them. It is about you.

Lonnie Davis

Our Scripture for today is Acts 2:37-38

37: When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38: Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”

I usually see a Bible verse and ask, “What is God saying?” Peter’s answer to “What shall we do?” is “Repent and be baptized.” 

But what if it was something else? What if it were, “Jump from Virginia to Pennsylvania all the way across Maryland and make sure you don’t touch Maryland at all? I know that is silly, but humor me. Where would you go to make the jump?

Well, there is a little strip of Maryland near the northeast part of Virginia where it is only a few miles to Pennsylvania. Those who knew geography would give that answer. “Go there. It is only a few miles rather than hundreds of miles like the other places.”

I had them. “Why?” I would ask. “You can’t jump a few miles. But the beautiful thing is that it is not your jump. It is God’s jump. If He asked you to make that jump, he would have to do it for us.” It recently hit me that it would be the right answer to go to the skinny place to jump. Even though it is God’s jump, He still wants you to do the best you can.

I’m still going to tell the story, but I will no longer end by pointing out that you can’t do it anyway, so just jump wherever you happen to be. Instead, I will accept that under your own power, you might fail, but still make the effort to do the best you can. 

It is what we do with what God tells us.

Lonnie Davis

Do you know the story of Carrie C. White? Carrie was a Florida resident who died in 1991 at the ripe old age of 116. Just think of all you could do with a life span of 116 years.  

She was a resident of a Florida nursing home. At 116, it is not surprising that she lived in a nursing home. The sad thing is that she entered the nursing home 82 years before she died! I don’t think I will mind living in a nursing home from ages 110 to 116, but I do not want to live in a nursing home for the last 82 years of my life. 

  Once a group of young people were discussing old age when the age of 95 came up. One of them asked, “Who in the world would want to live to 95?” Someone else answered, “Well, I guess anyone who is 94.” After thinking about Carrie White, we can’t help but add, “Yes, but only if it really is living.” Just breathing is not living. Living means doing something with life. 

  A first-grade teacher was going through the grief of losing her mother. Children pick up on things and one of the students noticed that the teacher was not doing well. She came up to the teacher and asked what was wrong. When the teacher shared the loss with the child, the little girl answered, “Well, I hope you live until you die.” Maybe the little girl did not fully understand it, but she said something profound. Too many people do not live until they die. 

  

For many years Dean Martin was part of the Hollywood scene. After he died, one of his close friends noted that Dean Martin had lost his will to live when his son died several years before him. “He never was the same,” the friend said. Sometimes some things take your life before they take your heartbeat. 

  It must not be that way for us. 10,000 years from now, we will all be living somewhere. A million years from now, we will all be alive. Nothing should happen here to make us lose the will to live the plan that God has for us. 

It is not the number of years you live here that matters. It is the kind of life you live. A million years from now the life you live then will be a reflection of the life you live now. Life here is just a preparation for the life that is to come. 

Lonnie Davis 

Our text for today is 2 Corinthians 5:10

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,

that each one may receive the things done in the body,

according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

I don’t like to think of negative things. In fact, Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about the good things. So let me ask you, why does the text for today seem like a negative one? That great day for us will be when we finally get to meet Jesus. Wow! What a happy day that will be. 

The prospect of meeting Jesus ought to bring us joy. The prospect of meeting Jesus ought to help us live righteously now.

I read the story of a little boy who was going to bed for the night. As he kneeled beside his bed he prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake…” At this point he stopped his prayer and ran out of the room. In a little while he came back. As his father was watching him, the father asked, “Where did you go?”

The little boy said, “I got to thinking about ‘if I should die before I wake’ and remembered that I turned all of my sister’s toys upside down. I thought if I should die before I wake, I wouldn’t want her to see them that way, so I went and fixed them.”

This little story ought to remind us that we might not be here tomorrow. If I should die before I wake, what would I want to do before that time? If you should die before you wake, what might you want to do before that time?

Whatever it is, do it!

Lonnie Davis

Our text today is from Habakkuk 3:17-18

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Habakkuk is saying, I am happy God is my God no matter what happens. 

When I was a child, my mother warned me against “fair-weather friends.” You know the kind, those that are your friend only when it is advantageous to them. While we all encountered those types of “friends,” most of us have a real friend who is your friend, come what may. For that friend we would do anything.

When I consider our text for today, I see Habakkuk as one who had that kind of friend in God. I too want to be a friend of God, but not just a fair-weather friend. 

Our relationship with God must not depend upon the circumstances of life. No matter what happens in life, whether rich or poor, sick or well, a friend of God will keep allegiance to God.

It is said of Abraham that he was the “friend of God.” “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And he was called the friend of God.” – James 2:23

You might play basketball like Michael Jordan or swim like Michael Phelps, but more important than anything else is to be a friend of God like Abraham, to enjoy God like Habakkuk, no matter the circumstances.

By the way, when you are a true friend of God, you get to talk to him and he listens. That is one of the benefits to having a true friend in God.

Lonnie Davis

He was blind, but Jesus gave him sight. He went from a beggar on the side of the road to a man who could see. Surely this was the happiest day of his life. Jesus healed him and then told him to “Go.” (Mark 10:52). If you were that blind man what would you do?

Go home and see you family.

Go walk around town and see what before you had only heard.

Go see the people who had given to you and thank them.

Jesus said “Go,” but left the choice of where to go to the beggar. His choice would define him. 

I loved the blind beggars “next.” He didn’t go hunt family. He didn’t go to town. His “next” was to immediately follow Jesus. 

Our next choice defines us too. The blind beggar made the right choice, but sometimes we get it right and sometimes we don’t. 

When Moses killed an Egyptian, he ran. (Exodus 2)

When Abraham lied to the Pharaoh, he fled the country. (Gen 12-13)

They were there when Jesus was arrested, but the Apostles ran. (Matt 26)

These were all great men, but if they had it to do all over again, all of these men would have made different choices. What makes the story of Moses, Abraham, and the Apostles great is not because of what they did “next,” but because of their second next. After running, Moses came back to confront the Pharaoh. After Abraham fled the country, he went back to a Bethel and worshipped God. After the Apostles ran, they later went to the temple and preached the word of God (Acts 2).

Everyday, you get to make a choice. Everyday you are confronted with your “next.” What will you do next? Today’s challenge is to realize that even though you made some bad choices in the past, you still have another next, another choice to make.

Like the blind beggar, choose wisely.

Lonnie Davis

Our text today is an unusual one. It is from Genesis 27:4 

“Make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.” 

The background of this verse is that Isaac was old and thought he was about to die. He called his outdoors type of son, Esau, and told him to get him some of that meat that you know I love to eat. It seems that men have always loved to eat meat. It is normal. It is the first time in the KJV that a man ever said that he loved anything, and it is about men loving to eat meat. Wow! 

There is another first time in the Bible worth noting. In Genesis, after God made each thing, he saw that it was good. The first time in the Bible that God ever said something was not good is Genesis 2:18: 

“And the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone.’ “ 

No matter how tough or strong men (or women) feel they are, God said “It is not good for man to be alone.” 

From the beginning, we are not made to be loners. A little later in the Bible, God explains why this is so. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.” 

We are not made to be loners, not because you don’t ever need some alone time, but because there will come a time when you need someone. Sometimes we all need a little help. 

Lonnie Davis

A Stinky Place 

My father-in-law was a pig farmer. I learned a lot about pigs from him. I learned that pigs are not just plant eaters. They will eat anything. That may be why we call them pigs. I learned that pigs can get angry with you. When they do, don’t go near them. Since my only experience with pigs these days is around ham and bacon, I don’t need those lessons anymore. 

Today, I want to tell you about a young man who needed to know more about pigs and pigpens Jesus tells the story in Luke 15. It is about a boy who got his inheritance, left home, lost his money, came to his senses, and went home to his dad. It is a story familiar to many of us, but do you know the essential place in the story? It is the pig pen. After he spent his money the only job he could find was feeding pigs. It was in that pig pen that his starvation led him to go home. Jesus said: 

“He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.  When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!’” (Luke 15:16-17). 

His story is a common one. When folks leave God and head out into the world, sooner or later, they too will come face-to-face with the pig pen. Here are three lessons from this story. 

1. There is always a pig pen. 

No one leaves God thinking “I am heading to the pain and humiliation of the pig pen. The backslider always thinks he is headed to something better, but not a pig pen. 

2. The pig pen stinks. 

Life in the pig pen is never good. It is a stinky place. At first, the Devil makes you think it’s good, but this is merely a deception.  

3. The pig pen changes you. 

Thank God for the pig pen. The pig pen brought the prodigal to his senses. It still brings wayward folks to their senses. 

The only way out of the pig pen is the way the prodigal son got out. He came to his senses and ran home to the Father. Any of us in the pig pen should do the same. 

Lonnie Davis 

Our text for today is Proverbs 6:6-8

“Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise,

Which, having no captain, Overseer or ruler, Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.”

There are four great lessons to learn from this brief text. 

1. Learn from Ants:

The statement, “Go to the ant,” means look at the ant and learn. 

There are approximately eight billion PEOPLE on earth. That seems like a lot until you realize how many ants there are. Ultimately no one knows how many there are, but some who study them have concluded that there be as many as 100,000 ants for each man, woman, and child on the earth. It is amazing to realize that God uses such a common creature to teach the one creature who is made in his image – mankind. What is the lesson we learn from trillions of ants? The lesson is this “Be prepared.”

Be Prepared, is the official motto of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. From our text, it is obviously the motto of trillions of ants.

Go to the ant.

2. Plan ahead. 

Actually, if you plan at all, you plan ahead. Those who do not prepare for the future, simply do not plan at all. “Go to the ant,” Solomon said, because ants are known for their ability to plan ahead. They gather food during times of abundance to prepare for times of scarcity. 

“Go to the ant.” 

3. Self-Motivation: 

One comedian commented that some employees nick-name ought to be ZEUS, Z.E.U.S. Which means, Zero Effort Unless Supervised.

There are no ZEUS ants. Ants don’t need supervision to work; they are self-driven. 

“Go to the ant.”

4. The Harvest only comes for those who prepare.

Solomon said the ant “Provides her supplies in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.”

The ant knows the secret of reaping – you only reap in the harvest, if you have prepared in the summer.

Go to the ant.

So today, look in the mirror and said, “Go to the ant.” Maybe it will remind you to get prepared.

Look at your children and say, “Go to the ant.” This may cause them to ask, “What do you mean?” and you can teach them about the important life skill of being prepared.

I’m Lonnie Davis and these are thoughts worth thinking.

Our text for today is Proverbs 29:17

“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.”

After reading this verse, I want to shout “Don’t stop now. Tell me more about how to do this.

The story is told of one man who was called to bail his son out of jail. As he left for the jail, a nosey neighbor said, “If he were my kid, I’d leave him in jail.” The father answered, ““If he were your kid, I’d leave him in jail too.”

One of the curses of being the oldest child is having kids before your siblings and listening to them tell you how to raise your child. You hear famous words like, “When I have kids, they will not…”

One of the joys of being the oldest child is watching your younger siblings have children and seeing those children do exactly what their parents said they would never do. It is easier to discipline and control other people’s children better than you can your own.

To understand the principle behind this, read 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” The reason my kid’s sins are not as bad as your kid’’s sins is because I love my kids and “love covers a multitude of sins.” It is the way of love to look past faults and imperfections.

 Without this truth, the imperfections of those with whom we live nearly 24-7 would becomes so glaring that their faults will drown out the good.

 Without this principle of love, the wonder of marriage changes to “I wonder what went wrong.”

 Look one more time at that great text, 1 Peter 4:8, “Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” Now read it again and this time stop after the word “covers.” It now reads ““Love each other deeply, because love covers…”

Yes it does. Love covers…whatever. That is the secret of living together in happiness.

Lonnie Davis