Isaac dug again the wells of his father. The Philistines had filled them up and they had to be re-opened. You will observe that Isaac did not have a prayer meeting and ask God to send down an angel with a shovel. Re-opening clogged spiritual wells is our responsibility. Prayer will accomplish many things but not everything. Moses at the Red Sea was praying when he should have been proceeding, and God put an end to that (Exodus 14:15). Joshua on his face after the defeat at Ai was bidden to get up. It was time to find out who was at the bottom of all the trouble. God will raise Lazarus but will not roll the stone away from the sepulcher. We must break up our fallow ground and stir up the gift of God within us. We waste time in prayer meetings trying to persuade God to assume our responsibilities. No use asking God to make us humble when we are told to humble ourselves. Well-digging is not a pleasant pastime, and repentance, confession and restitution are not enjoyable, but they get to the heart of the trouble. And when the well is dug, the water will flow.
Devotion of the Day
Not Favorites But Intimates
Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.
Acts 10:34
And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend.
Exodus 33:11
Someone said it well, “God has intimates but no favorites.” He has no pets. He may seem to grant to some more success, greater blessings, than to others but, whatever the reasons are, known best to Himself, favoritism is not one of them. He sends rain upon the just and the unjust. He is no respecter of persons.
But He has closer fellowship with some, reveals Himself to them more fully, confides in them His deepest secrets. So He did with Enoch, with Abraham, “the friend of God,” with Moses, not because of special merit in them or favoritism with Him, but because in His sovereign will He chose to do so.
Yet any man can know God more intimately. “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you.”
Jesus promised to manifest Himself to the obedient heart (Jno. 14:21). We are not servants but friends, and we can be close friends.
Do not expect to be a favorite, but aspire to be an intimate of God’s . His secret is with them that fear Him.