Read 1 Chronicles 28, Malachi 4, and Proverbs 27:14-27.
This devotional is about Proverbs 27:23-27.
If you leave your ice cream bowl on the counter, it will warm up to room temperature and melt. If you leave your coffee on the same counter, it will cool off to room temperature as well. Left alone, things drift toward mediocrity. That’s how the world works.
It’s also how business works. In verses 23-27, Solomon urges farmers to pay close attention to their flocks and herds (v. 23) because things that are valuable decay without routine maintenance and careful attention (v. 24).
On the other side of the coin, if you pay attention to things that are valuable and cultivate them, you will prosper (vv. 25-27). These are helpful instructions for us to consider as we come to the end of this year. Are there areas in your life that you’ve stopped paying attention to? Anything that is drifting, coasting, lacking your attention? Whether you realize it or not, those areas are drifting toward mediocrity or worse. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that much of life is like a garden. Life doesn’t need constant, intense attention like a newborn baby does. But it does need some kind of consistent, proper cultivation. If something is wilting but hasn’t died yet, you can often restore it with the right kind of attention.
Take a few minutes now and think about your walk with God, your personal health and growth, your family, your work, and anything else that comes to mind. What in these areas needs attention? What kind of attention and how much? Learn what “the condition of your flocks” is, then “give careful attention” to them. They will pay you back benefits in the future (vv. 25-27).