ESOCS Devotional 8 November 2022
TEXT: MARK 1:1-13
MEMORY VERSE: “Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.” Mark 1:6
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
In Luke 1:15, the angel Gabriel told Zacharias the specifications of what his son John should not drink when he became an adult. He said, “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink.” John was to be consecrated onto the Lord. He ate only locusts and wild honey. For Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they took a firm decision that they “would not defile [themselves] with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank.” Rather, they said to the steward, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.” The scripture says, “And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies” (Dan. 1:1-15). The king’s delicacies! What are they!
In one of his prayers, David said, “Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies” (Ps. 141:4). Solomon advised: “When you sit down to eat with someone important, keep in mind who he is. If you have a big appetite, restrain yourself. Don’t be greedy for the fine food he serves; he may be trying to trick you” (Prov. 23:1-3 – GNT). The four young men chose to reject the delicacies because they were able to control themselves and restrain their appetite. The cooks prepared them with things that were offered to idols and animals that were classified as unclean by Jewish law at that time. Therefore, they lived a life of abstinence. It was the practice of self-denial and self-restraint, which enables people to discipline themselves and live a holy life style.
As Christians, we should be ready to make sacrifices by denying ourselves the pleasures of life so that we would be able to live a lifestyle of uprightness, integrity, gentleness, propriety, decorum, charity, love, and Christian piety. We should not allow ourselves to be swallowed up amidst the deceitful lustful pleasures of the world, and sin (delicacies). We should not defile ourselves with the pollutions of sin.
The first step is to avoid anything that patterns to sin and which may be a source of temptation to us. Daniel and his friends did not want to see the delicacies – the food and the wine. We should do likewise. Let us strive for the purity of our hearts and souls, instead. Keeping ourselves from all things that displease God (rejecting worldly pleasures and gains)beautifies our hearts and spirits; and we gain spiritual healthiness and bodily or physical beauty. The vegetable and water(which symbolize the things that lead to righteousness and holy living) gave the four young men a healthful look and better complexion than all those who ate the king’s delicacies – the pleasures of this present world. Let us restrain ourselves from the dainties or delicacies which the god of this world offers (2 Cor. 4:4). They are not profitable to us.
CHALLENGES
- What steps do you take to quench lustful desires in your heart?
- Enumerate the things that you have let go in life in order to live a pure Christian life?
PRAYERS
- Pray and ask for the spiritual strength to reject and resist sin and all its appearances.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
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ESOCS Devotional 8 November 2022