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Read Ephesians 5:14-21
“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (v. 16).
“She looks so young. She can’t possibly be a grandmother!” I thought as I chatted with one of my former high school students. What a shock to learn how many grandchildren she had!
I am often taken aback to realize just how old I am. Perhaps it is because I had no children of my own whose growth would have marked the passing of the years. I don’t like to admit remembering events that happened more than a half century ago. I cringe when I read a news item about an “elderly person” who is younger than I. Elderly? Me? Yes, the majority of my lifespan has come and gone. I am definitely a senior citizen!
Young person or senior, we occasionally need to remember we have been allotted a finite number of days to live on this earth. Let us pray with the psalmist, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (90:12). (Joyce Cooper)

Another day begun!
Lord, grant us grace that we,
Before the setting of the sun,
Redeem the time for Thee.
Another day of toil!
To Thee we yield our powers;
Keep Thou our souls from guilty soil
Through all the passing hours. — John Ellerton

“Be careful to make a good improvement of precious time” (David Brainerd).

This devotional is the Saturday, October 31, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Read 2 Kings 5:8-14
“And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” (v. 13)
Our world abounds with advice. Self-help books clog shelves, pop psychologists abound on the airwaves, and the internet offers help for whatever problems persist in our lives. People called “Life Coaches” are now paid ridiculous amounts of money to guide people into finding purpose in their lives. While these sources may offer some actual help to people, rarely do they address the core problems that people face.
I imagine that the world in which Naaman lived was much the same. Since he was the second most powerful man in the Kingdom of Aram, people were lined up with ways to make his life better. Some of them might have provided a temporary easing of Naaman’s suffering, but none of them could solve the core problem of leprosy.
Then two lowly servants pointed him in the right direction. A young Jewish girl pointed him to the Prophet Elisha, who at this time spoke for God. When Naaman didn’t like what the prophet had to say, another servant reminded him of the importance of obedience. How desperately we need to hear and obey God’s Word today. That is the only path to true wisdom. (Randy Joe Bland)
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

Where will you go to find answers to the problems of life?

This devotional is the Monday, October 19, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.