December 17 Daily Devotional

Bible Readings:

Job 4:1, 8-9, King James Version:
¹Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,...
⁸Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.
⁹By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed.

Psalm 119: 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, 174, KJV:
¹⁶I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word....
²⁴Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors....
³⁵Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight....
⁴⁷And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved....
⁷⁰Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law....
⁷⁷Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight....
⁹²Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction....
¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights....
¹⁷⁴I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.

2 Corinthians 9:6, 8-9, KJV:
⁶But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully....
⁸And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work....
¹⁰Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness....

Galatians 6:7-8, KJV:
⁷Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
⁸For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Devotional:

Many years ago Eliphaz, the Temanite, said to Job, "Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." And in the New Testament, Paul, the apostle, repeats the thought in these words, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Galatians 6:7, 8). It is a divine law that punishment follows disobedience of God's moral code. And punishment is not always delayed until the day of judgment. Even in this life pain in body and anguish of soul follow the transgression of God's law. The drunkard comes to disgrace; the libertine finds his body weakened by disease, the glutton suffers illness, and the lazy person brings poverty to himself and family. Examples of the working of this law are multiplied in the experience of men. No one ever escapes the consequences of sin. True enough, the difficulties that follow the doing of wrong may sometimes be lessened by the application of means that God gives us, but the harvest season inevitably follows the sowing of the seeds of sin.

One might expect that, since this-principle that reaping follows sowing is so well known among men, something would be done about it. Farmers root out weeds from their fields when they discover them, and the manufacturer seeks in the manufacturing process to remedy flaws that appear in the finished product. And men try to do something about the consequences of sin. Analyzing the problems of society, modernist preachers apply their "social gospel" to the ills of men by trying to better his environment. So we have drives for higher wages, better housing, more accessible amusements, hospitalization, socialized medicine, and the use of psychiatry for straightening out the mind and emotions of men. These are set forth as the best means of doing away with Ihc surface sores of society.

Now the believer in the Scriptures as the Word of God must not look with disdain upon efforts to alleviate the suffering of mankind. All of the above-mentioned attempts to help ailing man have an important part to play in God's plan for this world. He gives men the desire to overcome the consequences of sin. Common grace sends these blessings. But we must always remember that the Christian's duty is to preach that gospel which alone may destroy the root of sin. Weeds are not killed until the roots are killed. Sin's consequences will always be with us as long as sin is with us. So let us put first things first. Do we need to do away with the consequences of sin? Yes, by all means! Should we do this by attacking the harvest field full of blooms? Yes, that may and should be done, but let us first minister the good seed of the Word of God so that there will conic forth from the field of men's lives abundant fruit of righteousness.

Through Jesus Christ alone is the power received to reverse the process from sowing to the flesh to sowing to the Spirit. We would do away with the natural results of sin. Then let us pray that God's Spirit will enter the hearts of sinners and there begin Mis work of destroying the power of sin. We would keep men from the disgrace of the drunkard. Then let us tell men to commit themselves unto Christ and their powers unto His control. We would hinder the spread oF disease brought about by misuse of the bodies of men. Then let us not only place before men the law of God, "Thou shalt not kill" and "Thou shalt not commit adultery," but also present the gospel of Cod's saving grace in Christ which will make the doing of God's law a delight. After that and along with that, in the applying of all that the gospel implies for men, we may work to cure the ills of men, and that work will have eternal value because it is sanctified by Christ.

We are very happy to make available to you this month these devotionals by the late Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver. They originally appeared in The Presbyerian Guardian during the late 1940's.

The description of his "Your Family Altar" page in The Presbyterian Guardian also fits this Web page: "The page is designed for both private and family use, whichever is most convenient in your case. If you do not have family worship in your home, we hope you will begin, and suggest using these readings. They should not, however, take the place of reading books of the Bible, or the Bible itself, through in regular course." It is those who abide (continue) in the Word who are truly Christ's disciples, who know the truth, and who experience freedom in Him (John 8:31-32). May these devotionals be used for the building up of God's people and to the glory of God.