Reading for today
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 11, 12, 13
New Testament: John 15
Thoughts from today’s reading
1 Samuel 12:20-24. Samuel’s encouragement to the people was to keep following the Lord even though they had made a wrong decision about the king. He said turning to anything else apart from God would lead to chasing empty things. His service to the people to help them keep following God was to pray for them and also to teach them the right way to live.
John 15:16-17. Jesus declares that He has chosen the disciples and appointed them to be fruitful with fruits that abound. One of the areas of fruitfulness that Jesus was very interested in was bringing souls to God. The appointment for fruitfulness is also seen in Genesis 1 when God made man, this was the first commandment to man.
Being fruitful in everything is not an option for the believer, it is an appointment, it is a command and it is a service that needs to be fulfilled.
Prayer
1. Heavenly Father, I commit myself to following you, I will not turn aside to any other thing as your word clearly says that the pursuit of other things before God leads to emptiness. I will seek You and your kingdom first and in doing so all other things that are needful will follow me. I pray for myself and those you have put in my sphere of influence, that we will experience much grace to follow you, that the word that keeps us grounded in truth will continue to ring in our consciousness. Thank you Lord for helping us in Jesus name.
2. Lord Jesus I commit myself to obey your command to be fruitful in every aspect of my life. You are interested in reaching many souls so I pray that I will be your hands, feet and mouth to bring people into contact with your plan for them. I also commit myself to working effectively in all spheres of my life, at home, at work, in my community and wherever I operate, so that I produce results that will glorify God in the eyes of the people I work among.