Today’s devotion reminds us that our faith cannot be bought or sold. When God blesses us through our actions, we must be careful not to let these blessings dominate us. 🅸🆃 🅸🆂 🅲🆁🆄🅲🅸🅰️🅻 🆃🅷🅰️🆃 🆆🅴 🅳🅾️ 🅽🅾️🆃 🅻🅴🆃 🅾️🆄🆁 🅿️🅾️🆂🆂🅴🆂🆂🅸🅾️🅽🆂 🆃🅾️ 🅿️🅾️🆂🆂🅴🆂🆂 🆄🆂, 🅱️🆄🆃 🅸🅽🆂🆃🅴🅰️🅳 🆃🅷🅰️🆃 🆆🅴 🅿️🅾️🆂🆂🅴🆂🆂 🅾️🆄🆁 🅿️🅾️🆂🆂🅴🆂🆂🅸🅾️🅽🆂!

Bible Reading of the day
AM – 1 Kings 21,22
PM – John 3:1-21

𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊: 𝕲𝖔𝖉 𝕱𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖎𝖉
𝟏 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝟐𝟏:𝟑 𝐊𝐉𝐕
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑵𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒉𝒂𝒃, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆.

King Ahab attempted to purchase Naboth’s land. In verse 2, it states, “𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒉𝒂𝒃 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝑵𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉, 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒃𝒔, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆: 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒚𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕; 𝒐𝒓, 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚.” The offer is tempting—perhaps even irresistible—but Naboth did not see it that way. He understood the importance of the land he inherited from his father and was aware of the law. The Bible states, “𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆’𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏; 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏”—𝐄𝐳𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝟒𝟔:𝟏𝟖 KJV.

Ahab serves as a prime example of our adversary, the devil, who tries to tempt us or earn our full attention and devotion to God.

Illustration
In my mid-20s, I enjoyed exploring different pursuits and had a stable job supporting my family. God blessed me with a loving family and a good career. Then, an opportunity to work abroad came up, so I decided to move to Singapore to serve God through my work. Overall, I was overwhelmed with blessings, which led me to backslide as a Christian. The Bible warns against this: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒚” (𝐄𝐳𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝟑𝟑:𝟏𝟗). Conversely, “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒚” (𝐄𝐳𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝟑𝟑:𝟏𝟖). Do you see the point? God will address us—He may promote us early if we don’t behave properly before Him. I thank God that when He corrects me, I humble myself and follow His guidance, or I might miss this early promotion.

Our text tells us that Naboth refused King Ahab’s offer, even if it meant losing his life. Remember, standing firmly on God’s commandments and promises is challenging; it might cost us our lives and possessions. We need to take control of what we have and ensure it doesn’t control us. Ahab exemplifies someone who exploited his authority and lacked the resolve to uphold the truth. This is very risky; although we may be in positions of influence, we often don’t know how to handle them. He simply allowed his wicked wife to lead, which ultimately led to destruction.

Every believer and AGBC member should emulate Naboth’s example; our faith must remain priceless. When God blesses us with our efforts, we should not let those blessings control us. Such gifts from God for His work and ministries are not for trade or exchange. Our service belongs solely to our King of kings and Lord of lords. Our guiding motto should be like Naboth’s: 🆃🅷🅴 🅻🅾️🆁🅳 🅵🅾️🆁🅱️🅸🅳.