Weekend Devos

September 8 Read Proverbs 6:6-11

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. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep -- so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an armed man.

This is an odd scripture passage, isn't it? But when you stop and think about the ant, and how it works to provide food and shelter for itself and for the colony as a whole, maybe this isn't such a silly passage after all.

Think for just a minute about an ant. Who tells the ant to go to work? Who tells it to gather food? Who tells it to move at all? And yet, the teeny tiny ant is one of the hardest workers on this earth -- and if you have ever watched ants at work, they can move some pretty big stuff in comparison to their size!

How are you like the ant? Do you work without prompting? Do you get up and go to school and do your work? Or do you lie around and wait for someone to push you and prod you into doing your homework, or going to school, or studying? This passage in the Bible says there is a time to sleep, but there is also a time to work, and even the ant knows the difference!

What about you -- do you know the difference? Consider the ways of the ant, and be wise!

©Debbie Robus 2004


September 9 Read Deuteronomy 11:18-19

Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Why do you think people become teachers? I can assure you it is NOT for the pay! And yet, I have known people who gave up jobs with great salaries and benefits to teach second graders. I have known teachers who spent a huge chunk of their salary on school supplies, clothing and pencils and paper for underprivileged students, and more college courses to make themselves even better teachers.

So why do they do it? Teachers teach in part because they love you and care about their students. And more than just a few of them consider teaching to be a "calling" from God. In this scripture, God is talking about teaching His word and His commandments to children. But, in the bigger scheme of things, God calls men and women to be teachers of all things… math, science, history, language arts, art, music, physical education, and more… because He wants us to have knowledge and to become all that we can, so that we can serve Him and glorify Him to the fullest.

As you interact with your teachers this week, and in the weeks and months ahead, remember… they are there pretty much because they chose to be… and because God chose them to teach you! Pray for your teachers and ask God to bless them, that they might do a great job -- for Him and for you!

©Debbie Robus 2004


September 10 Leviticus 10:11

… that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

Once again, we see God commissioning teachers and commanding them to teach the children. Did you know that God commissions Sunday School teachers, also? Just as with anything in life, there are good teachers and not-so-good teachers -- even in Sunday School. But a really good, loving, caring Sunday School teacher is one of the most important people you can have in your life.

Sunday School teachers are not paid to teach. They teach because they love God, and because they love YOU! They teach to help you learn more about God and to draw closer to Him. They also teach to encourage you in your daily living, to be a friend you can depend on, and to nurture you and lift you up to God in prayer.While teachers in school help you grow in wisdom that will help you be more productive as an adult, Sunday School teachers help you grow in Godly Wisdom that will help you grow as a Christian. Both are important to your overall well-being. Thank God for sending people into your life who care about helping you grow mentally and spiritually.

©Debbie Robus 2004