Daily Devotional for July 27, 2007

Proverbs 18
20 A man's belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the increase of his lips shall he be filled.
21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
22 Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
23 The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
(Scripture taken from the King James Version, 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States. To read this passage from The Message, go to www.biblegateway.com and do a passage lookup.)

My cell phone service provider has a plan that allows me to talk to others with the same provider at no charge. My mother has a phone service that allows her to choose “friends” who are using another provider, and she can talk to them any time at no charge. We do not share the same phone service provider, so she chose my phone number to be one of those listed in her “circle of friends.”

I was reading this passage and thinking about what to say about it, and it struck me as odd that Verse 22 was stuck in the middle of these verses about controlling your tongue and thoughts, how to treat others, and how to choose your friends.Then I realized that this verse might be the theme for all of the other surrounding verses. You may have noticed that the Proverbs talk a lot about the virtue of a good woman and/or wife, how to control our thoughts and what we say, and friendship. It seems to me that God is telling us in this passage that a good companion can help us to live this kind of life - a life that pleases Him.

It’s not the word “wife” that is important, necessarily. But we have read in previous passages about what constitutes a “good wife,” and I believe that God is showing us that choosing our friends and companions wisely will help us to live the kind of life that pleases him – a life in which we treat others fairly and guard our mouth and don’t flaunt our opinions and our possessions.

You may be in a situation where you are surrounded by family members who do not live a Godly life. But God is showing us that we can choose friends (and even spouses) who do live for Him… and they can become closer and more valuable in our daily living than any family member. So who is in your “friends and family circle?” Have you chosen wisely?

©2007 Debbie Robus