Your Devotional Website
My Time And Yours
Devotional for Wednesday, August 23, 2006 by Shirley Dobie
Philippians 2:3-4 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but to the interests of others. (NIV)Being late and holding people up are common occurrences. It can be very frustrating for the one left waiting. One of my childhood Sunday School teachers put a new slant on it. She said, "God has given each one of us a certain number of days, hours, and minutes of life. If you waste my time, you are stealing from my life." A sobering thought: Do we have the right to take this from another person?
We all realize that there are times when a wait is inevitable, and we can prepare for it and even welcome the rest. Many times, we worry when an expected event is held up or delayed. Parents know all too well what that is like.
But when we deliberately choose to do "just one more thing" which will make us late for someone who is waiting, we are selfishly judging our schedule and our time to have a higher value and priority than the other person's. Today's Scripture admonishes us, "in humility consider others better than yourselves".
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help us to be aware of the fact that our actions affect other people. Help us to care enough for others to show that we value their time, too. Amen.
Shirley Dobie <sherl@telus.net>
Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada
E-mail This Devotional to a friend without subscribing them, or give a
Gift Subscription.
Today's Music:
Give Me Oil In My Lamp.