March 15

Numbers 22:21-23:30, Luke 1:57-80, Psalm 58:1-11, Proverbs 11:12-13 

Pray: Lord this morning Your scriptures teach us about our mouths and our words. The Proverb reminds us that often a man of understanding remains silent and that a trustworthy man does not go around gossiping. Lord help us today to be good stewards of our words and our mouths and that every word would be for Your glory. Amen.

Read: We read the famous story of Balaam’s donkey this morning. I chuckled to myself when I read that once the donkey began speaking to Balaam that without skipping a beat Balaam converses back with the donkey. I think I would have been so shocked or scared that I wouldn’t have been able to have a conversation with the donkey. But Balaam was blinded with anger. The angel of the Lord spoke to Balaam and told him that it was the donkey that actually saved him from being destroyed by the angel. God will get our attention in many ways. I pray that we won’t be as blind as Balaam when the Lord seeks to speak to us in unconventional means.

Edify: It’s amazing how we can see similarities in our Old Testament reading and our story in Luke. In Numbers God causes a donkey to speak. In our New Testament reading we see that God restrains the mouth of Zechariah until his son is born because of his doubts about his birth. Just as God declared, when John was born Zechariah finally speaks, “His name is John.” After nine months or more of silence Zechariah learned his lesson and the first words from his mouth were to reaffirm the instructions that God has given to him in naming him John and to trust in the Lord. 

Practice: A powerful word from Psalm 58 today reminds us how important it is for us not to seek justice for ourselves. The soul reason for Christians not to seek to avenge themselves is found in the confidence that God is just and He will reward the righteous in due time. May we remember this when we feel the need to justify ourselves to others.