April 9, 2013 … What Part of “Trust” Do We Not Understand?

Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 99

Passage of the Day: 1st Chronicles 21: 1-4 [NLT] …  
1 Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the Israelites. 2 David gave these orders to Joab and his commanders: “Take a census of all the people in the land—from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north—and bring me the totals so I may know how many there are.” 3 But Joab replied, “May the LORD increase the number of his people a hundred times over! But why, my LORD, do you want to do this? Are they not all your servants? Why must you cause Israel to sin?” 
4 But the king insisted that Joab take the census, so Joab traveled throughout Israel to count the people. Then he returned to Jerusalem
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 Contextual Study of today’s passage: 1st Chronicles, Chapter 21 [NLT] … Go to this link … 
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Reference Passage #1: Proverbs 3: 5-6 : [When God says “ALL,” He means it!] …[NLT] …  
5 Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  6 Seek His will in ALL you do, and He will direct your paths.

My Journal for Today: When God says He wants it ALL, what part of “ALL” do we not understand? How often do we see, in the Bible, God giving commands to His children, even men after His own heart like King David; and then we read how they rebel or do life their own way. And what is always the result? … Yeah, … bad things happen!!

That was the case in today’s highlight Scripture passage in 1st Chronicles, Chapter 21 where David, demonstrating little trust in his God, took a census of the people to see how many men of fighting age there were; and the result of this lack of trust was God sending a plague on the Israelites and 70,000 people died. You can read about it in Chapter 21 of 1st Chronicles using the link above.

And as I end up doing often in my devotional blogs, I make reference to my wife’s life verse from Scripture, Proverbs 3: 5-6, which would later be penned by David’s Son, Solomon; and as I said above, the pertinent inquiry of our lives is … “What part of the word “TRUST” do we not understand?”

So, often we claim to be followers of Christ; but do we really follow Him [see Luke 9: 23]? And it is said that the way to determine whether we’re truly disciples of Christ is to look at our calendars and our checkbooks (which for many of us today may have to be a look into our online time or expense management). And when God sees how we use HIS TIME and TREASURE, will He see that we’re using the time, talents, and treasures HE has provided for HIS glory or for our own?

That’s really enough to chew on today. So, I’ll just shut down my blogging here and let any who’ve come here meditate on today’s highlight passage and these questions raised about the depth of our trust relationship with our Lord and our commitment to His purposes.

My Prayer for Today … Lord, You know my heart! And I pray that it is ALL given over to Your will, … following Your ways, from Your word. … Amen