Jeremiah 45:5 And do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I will bring adversity on all flesh," says the Lord. "But I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go."
J. Oswald Sanders, a Godly man and former director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship, once wrote about a desired position. As he contemplated lobbying for the position, at one point, while walking through the city of Auckland, New Zealand, a verse of Scripture came to his mind, "Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!"
Sanders later said, "The words came just as though it was God speaking. There were crowds all around me, and no one else heard the voice, but I heard it all right!" He said, "I believe that was a real turning point in my service to the Lord." As a result, he never sought the position, but later it was opened for him, in God's timing.
The world's standards of greatness -- money, success, power, and fame -- mean nothing to God. We will learn from Jesus' example if we truly aspire to greatness. He didn't exemplify His greatness by conquest, riches, or worldly success – but rather by humility, gentleness, and servanthood.
If we truly want to be great in God's kingdom, we will decide to transform worldly "ambition" into "Godly ambition." We will not seek honor but humility. We won't desire power to rule but to become the greatest servant. Beyond everything, we will long to be great in His love…and through His love, influence and transform the world around us. These are "ambitions" worthy of our Lord and Savior, who, because of His great love and humility, was exalted above every other name and promised that He will humble the exalted...and exalt the humble.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]In Hebrew, the word for hardness is “kosher”. Interestingly enough, the word “kosher” also means “fitness”, as from a workout in the gym. Yes — it’s a workout to serve the Lord in this world — but God has called us to it!
One of the great marvels of the Roman Empire was the invention of the aqueduct system to provide water over vast distances. It was an absolutely ingenious method which made use of gravity, with stone arches to support the water channels. An aqueduct was built in 109 AD which carried water to the city of Segovia for eighteen hundred years. For nearly sixty generations this aqueduct provided cool water from the mountains above. But fairly recently, it was beginning to collapse.
I love fishing but sadly, I haven't been able to do it in quite some time. Yeah, I know, one would think there'd be some good fishing spots here in Israel. However, from what I understand, they're not really available to the public. So sad. Nevertheless, fishing gives me a chance to get a break from the world and just relax and meditate -- and on a good day, maybe catch a fish or two.
When Daniel was in the midst of the lion’s den…God was with him. When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the midst of the fiery furnace…God was with them. It would have been perfectly easy for God to immediately transport these saints out of their difficulties, but no, He chose instead to be with them in the midst of their trials. God chose to reveal His power through the trials instead of exercising His power to remove them.
Doesn’t it seem like just when we get that much needed breakthrough, suddenly the enemy comes to attack? In this passage we read how the Philistines heard that David was anointed King and quickly assembled together to seek and destroy him. And what does David do? Does he become fearful? No. Does he hide? No! David goes out to meet them!
Do you ever wonder why it is that sometimes we don't get the things we pray for? James hits it on the nail when he says that we ask amiss, that we may consume it upon our pleasures.
Yeshua (Jesus) told His disciples to go into the deep waters and let down their nets for fish. When they did, their nets were filled up with fish to the point of breaking. Being fishermen and businessmen, they may have been tempted to start doing business. I mean, think how much they could make!