Bible Reading: Proverbs 3:5-8
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
THE TRADEMARK LINE of the superhero He-Man is “I have the power!” and is delivered as he raises his broadsword above his head.
Of course, people never asked He-Man, “You have the power to do what?” He had big muscles, so they probably were afraid he’d beat them up. But it’s a fair question, not just for He-Man, but for you as well.
How would you complete He-Man’s statement for yourself? Check off any statements in the list below that you think are true:
I have the power to …
| □ | stand on my head. | □ | fly |
| □ | eat whatever I want. | □ | lift five hundred pounds over my head. |
| □ | leap tall buildings in a single bound | □ | get good grades in school. |
| □ | count to one hundred. | □ | hold my breath for sixty seconds. |
| □ | snap my fingers | □ | dump a bucket of mud and earthworms in my sister’s bed. |
| □ | make right choices all the time. | ||
Which ones didn’t you check? (If you said you had the power to lift five hundred pounds, write to the International Olympic Committee right now!)
What was your response to the statement “I have the power to make right choices all the time?” Did you check it?
Actually, none of us can honestly check that statement. None of us has the power to make right choices all the time because each of us is sinful. We may want to do good. We may even try to do good. But the secret of doing good and making right choices isn’t in trying—it’s in trusting God’s power.
The key, then, to living a life of obedience to God’s commands is knowing God, staying as close to him as you can (through prayer, worship, and Bible reading, for example), then day by day (even moment by moment) trusting him to help you make right choices. And one of those right choices would be deciding not to dump a bucket of mud and earthworms in your sister’s bed. (Just in case you were thinking about it!)
REFLECT: Do you think you can trust someone you don’t know? How can you get to know God better so you can trust him more? Do you have the power to make right choices all the time? Who does have that power? How can you use that power?
ACT: Every time you turn a light or appliance on today, try to remember where your power to make right choices comes from.
PRAY: “God, I trust you for the power to help me do the right thing today and every day.”
