Daily Devotional

beside water

BESIDE THE WATERS

22nd June 2023

Scripture Reading: PSALMS 23: 1-6

Focus

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” (Psalm 23: 2)

In our Focal Scripture, the psalmist speaks of how the Shepherd leads him beside still waters. Notice that the sheep has a wooly body, and if it gets itself soaked in the river, the extra weight it has gained as a result of the wooly body, can make it drown. The shepherd knows that the sheep is at the risk of drowning in the waters, and he takes the sheep just beside the still waters. He brings the sheep close enough to drink, but not to fall into it.

Friend, did you know that the same Shepherd that wants you to drink from the river does not want you to fall into the same river? Did you know that the same God who brings you beside your blessings does not want you to fall into the blessings He brought your way? Did you know that the waters that the Lord has brought your way is for you to drink, not for you to swim in it? Did you know that there is a posture for the waters God brings to you?

Don’t make the mistake of jumping into the waters when the Lord would only have you walk beside it. Don’t make the mistake of making God’s goodness to you a priority over and above your journey with God. Don’t allow your desire for the physical things that God does for you to consume you. Don’t allow your blessings to ruin you. Don’t allow the overflow that God has brought you to, to take the place of God Himself.

If truly you are a sheep in God’s pasture, then soaking yourself in the waters of divine provision can become the excess weight that will drown you. If truly you belong to God and have a walk with God, then let your journey with God matter more to you than His provisions for you. Let where God is taking you to, matter more to you than what He provided for you. Let your advancement matter more to you than mere increase.

When the chips are down, you were only meant to drink from the waters. You were only meant to walk beside the still waters. You were not sent to jump into it.

Declaration

I won’t be distracted by divine provision; my blessings will not drown me, in Jesus’ name!

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Further Reading

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Memory Verse

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 2)

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