Devotional - May 5, 2004

Have you ever insisted on doing something for someone, but inwardly hoped they'd reject your offer? Offering assistance is the godly thing to do, but the other person's refusal to accept our help lets us off the hook. We've got the best of the situation. We did the right thing and offered. But the other person did the right thing and denied our offer, bearing the load themselves. Everyone is happy, right? I don't think so! Are we sincere if we see a need and offer assistance and then can be talked out of it?

Ruth is the epitome of determination. She was free to go home after her husband died, but her heart remained with her former mother-in-law and her people. She was not lying to Naomi when she asked to stay by her side. Ruth refused to let any argument dissuade her. She was going to do it and that's all there was to it!

If determination had alternate meanings in the dictionary, it should likely include the words, denial and decisiveness. That is, refusing to quit for the sake of doing the "right" thing and having a strong desire to overcome any deterrent for the sake of finishing a job.

However, if there has ever been a single person who "lived" determination, denial and decisiveness, it was Jesus. Listen to his determined statement to the disciples: "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (John 4:34) No doubt, there has never been, and will never be a stronger starter, doer and finisher of God's work than Jesus Christ.

How determined are you? Will you follow the Lord regardless of the cost? Will you deny your personal desires for the sake of knowing and doing God's desire? Are you making singular decisions based on the truth of God's word or are they based on emotions as changing and variable as the wind?

Have you considered the fact that no one can make you do something you don't want to do? That being the case, what you're doing right now is either self-serving or the determination to trust God's word and do his will regardless of your feelings. A person who follows God begins by understanding God's way and trusting His will. Then they do it and keep doing it until it's done. Determination begins and ends with the word of God.

How determined are you? For the Christian, it's proportional to the amount of time they spend in God's word.

1 Developed from Read the Bible Thru ( Jd. 21:1-Ru. 1:22 Jn. 4:4-42 Ps. 105:1-15 Pr. 14:25 )
2. Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society