"Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility." (Daniel 4:27)
After returning home from dinner, my brother and his wife realized they had locked themselves out of their house. He went around the entire house from window to window hoping to find one that was unlocked and finally located a small one that was high above the ground.
Piling boxes on top of a garbage can, he climbed on the teetering tower to crawl through the tiny window, his large frame making this no small challenge! After essentially falling through the window he located the house keys on the dining room table, then gingerly crawled back out the small window onto his unstable tower of garbage can and boxes to the ground. Returning to his wife who was waiting at the front door he smilingly offered her the keys. Her response – “Why didn’t you just come out the front door?” His Response – “Oh, be quiet!”
Sometimes, as my brother did, we do our decision making by default rather than reasoned consideration which often leads to faulty decisions. Default thinking may be “doing it the way we have always done it” and this is known as “stink’n think’n.” A spirit of humility seeks God’s wisdom as we make decisions. (Clifford Churchill)

Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me-
All is wonderful passion and p
O Thou Spirit divine, All my nature refine.
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
― Albert Orsborn, Tom Jones

As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on thing and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.” - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This devotional is the Monday, April 18, 2016 entry of Opening the Word.