Online Devotions: Without God I Am Nothing

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Without God I Am Nothing

January 29 (Genesis 32:10)

I am not worthy of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps! (ESV)

Read chapters 29 through 32 of Genesis. Jacob worked hard for many years. Scripture tells of at least fourteen years that he worked for Laban, building his flocks and family, but when you start figuring in the number of children he had during that time, it would have been even longer. Hard work over an extended period of time. That is the recipe for success, isn’t it?

Yet in this verse Jacob gives full credit to God for his achievements and takes none for himself. Think of the things for which you have worked hard over time…a college degree, advancement within your work, a health and fitness goal, financial stability, owning a home, having children. These are things for which people take great pride and for which we congratulate each other. How often is our response in moments of celebration over personal achievement to turn the praise immediately to God?

Stop and think about that for a moment. Will you thank God for your ability to make the money you are spending at the gas station you are blessed to have nearby as you fill the tank of the car He has helped you purchase? Will you praise Him for the running water with which you brush your teeth you have been blessed to entrust to a dentist gifted by God to treat and care for? You see where this is going. There is not one thing in all our possession or achievement that we own or have done apart from God.

Lord, I owe it all to You. I owe to You all that I have and all I have achieved. Call to my mind the things I have overlooked. Develop in me such an awareness of Your hand in my life that my days are filled with praise and thanksgiving. I begin now with glorifying my Savior Jesus, Who is quite simply my all in all. Amen.

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History of Online Devotions

In January of 1999, I began the Online Devotions with the teens of the church we were attending. Each week they would receive a verse of Scripture, a short reflection, and a prayer. Over the years others subscribed to this email list, and soon the Online Devotions were going out to people across the country and beyond.

In 2007 I published in book format a collection called Desert Days: Forty Devotions for Men.

After suggestions from several readers, I launched in 2010 the Online Devotions blog. Devotions are still available each week by email, and if you would like to subscribe, please indicate so in the comment box.

As I have always said, if one of these devotions touches you, you can be sure it was from God. If one leaves you flat, then there was too much of me in it.