Devotion 12/22/08

Pro 22:17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

Pro 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
Pro 22:21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

All of us must study and learn in order that the truth may be portrayed correctly and in the right light.

Zechariah 6

A lot of prophecy in this. A lot of stuff I did not understand. According to the Strand Study Bible, the purpose of the eighth vision was to show God's people that those who aided satan in destroying God's work would have the same end as him.

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I'm gonna be honest, I did not feel like having my devotion this morning. My attitude in approaching it was not as it should be. But I had my devotion. As I had my devotion, I became very frustrated because I didn't get much. Proverbs was extra tricky today and Zechariah was filled with hard-to-understand prophecy. Of course I prayed to God, asking for guidance and understanding in His Word. I may have gotten something that I don't even know I received. Only God knows.

A lot of things have been bothering me lately. For some reason Christmas always brings out my irritating side. I guess all the commercialism and facades people put on during Christmas just pisses me off.

It's not only that though. I'm a little disappointed with some people in our youth group. No matter how many lessons they hear on a certain subject, it never sets in. No change. I know, they are teenagers, but really, that should not be an excuse. When are people going to start stepping up?

As the years pass, Christmas becomes increasingly depressing. As my understanding and love of Christ grows, my love for Christmas diminishes. Christmas is no longer about Christ. He has been removed and replaced by some plastic baby in a manger scene. Plastic. That's all it is. My least favorite part of Christmas is going to see my extended family. My reasons for that used to be my desire to play with my toys. Now, it is because my family is over-the-top secular about Christmas. Christ hardly comes up in conversation. This year will be hard....I'm not looking forward to it.