Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame” (Prov. 10:5).
READ: Genesis 41:25-36
Besides your attitude at home, your ability to optimize your provisions marks you out as a wise fellow. Proverbs 10:5 says, “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame”. It is not easy to gather during a time of lack or famine. It takes wisdom to do so. It takes wisdom to access abundance when everyone else is crying out of hunger. One Bible character who was able to gather in hard times was Isaac. “Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him” (Gen. 26:12). Isaac’s breakthrough did not come by chance. Abundance does not just come, it is provoked. To be able to access abundance during famine, you must be prepared to sow what others are not prepared to part with. Ordinarily, during famine, most will not want to make any investments. Their main concern would be how to generate more and safe enough food for austerity period. It takes the fellow who is wise to plan for the future when others are thinking only of today. It is also a mark of wisdom to sow at a time nobody would want to sow. At such a time, the yield is usually above the normal. That was what Isaac did by divine wisdom and he became so prosperous in a time of famine that he was richer than a nation.
Another Bible character who applied the same principle was Joseph. In Genesis 41:25-36, after interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph advised that a fifth of the produce of seven years of plenty be stored up to take care of the seven years of famine. But for this step, all the grains of the years of plenty would have been totally consumed or wasted. It is wisdom not to spend up all your earnings or profit. A wise person will set aside at least 20% of his or her profit for savings or future investment. Many people have nothing to fall back on in the time of emergency. That is because they lack wisdom. If you spend all you have, it means you live only for the moment. Should something come up that requires immediate financial attention, you will find yourself begging or borrowing. That is not wisdom. Apply these simple principles today and you will be among the wise.
ACTION POINT:
Open a savings account where you will save 20% of your income for future investments or eventualities.
Bible in One year: Jer. 17-20
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