Daily Devotional

Scripture:  Don't be lazy in showing your devotion. Use your energy to serve the Lord. Romans 12:11 (GW)

Observation:  Fervent. Gr. ze, literally, “to boil.” Apollos is described as a man who was “fervent in the spirit” (Acts 18:25). The zealous Christian will always keep his interest in the cause of God at the boiling point, as it were. His fervor will give him power with men (Acts 18:25, 28) and bring him power from God. The apostle John was “a powerful preacher, fervent, and deeply in earnest,” and “the fervor that characterized his teachings gave him access to all classes” (AA 546).
Serving the Lord. Zeal and fervor arise naturally in the heart of the believer who recognizes that, in whatever sphere of labor he may be serving, he is working “as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col. 3:23, 24; cf. Eph. 6:5–8). [The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 6. 1980 (F. D. Nichol, Ed.) (621). Review and Herald Publishing Association.]

Application:  I’m a morning person and prefer to get up early and get some things done before anybody else is up.  It is during those early hours that I can read, study, pray, write, exercise, and prepare for the day without distractions and disruptions.  Of course, by a certain time at night I’m wiped out and can’t do much productive thinking.
I know of others who are the opposite. . . they are night people who can do all I do in the morning but they do them late at night and sometimes even into the early hours of the morning.  They have a very difficult time getting up in the morning and it takes them a while to drag themselves up out of bed and get going to their job or responsibilities.
Regardless of whether you are a morning or night person, it is important that you do several things: First of all, devote time to developing or strengthening your relationship with God.  Study His word, meditate on how it applies to you and to that day, pray according to what you have just read, and commit to apply the principle you learned or to share the story you read with someone else.  Secondly, devote time to your family.  Use that creative time and energy to help your spouse or your children do some house work or school work, read with and to your children, help prepare them for their day or for bed.
The apostle Paul encourages us to not be lazy in showing devotion.  While we may feel the sheets or the book or the iPad tugging at us, use some of the energy to serve the Lord and to serve your family.

A Prayer You May Say:  Father God, help me to channel the strength and energy You give me to get better acquainted with you and to serve my family better.

Used by permission of Adventist Family Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.