Daily Bread Devotional – 1st February 2023

Daily Bread Devotional for Today 1st February 202 Tuesday Message. As you study today’s devotional, remember this; “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NLT)

TOPIC: Why Repent?

SCRIPTURE READING — Proverbs 1:20-23 (NIV)

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
21 on top of the wall[a] she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.

KEY VERSE: “Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you. I will make known to you my teachings.” — Proverbs 1:23

Daily Bread Devotional For Today 1st February 2023 MESSAGE

Not many of us like to hear the word repent, because it tends to have negative connotations. But here in Proverbs, when the voice of wisdom cries out that everyone should “repent” at her rebuke, it’s for the sake of offering them a great gift.

Here Wisdom is pictured as a person who wants to “pour out” her thoughts and make known her teachings. “Repent,” she is saying, “so that I can give you more of myself.” A more literal translation of the text here says, “I will pour out my spirit on you. . . .”

In some other Bible passages, God speaks the same words through his prophets, promising to make known his thoughts and mysteries. Perhaps the best known of those passages is Acts 2:17, where the apostle Peter declares, “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams’” (see also Joel 2:28).

God has always desired to give us more of himself, to encourage us toward a humble and contrite posture so that we can receive him. And Jesus, who is fully God, became human, just like us, so that we can receive God’s wisdom and have new, full life. We cannot receive his thoughts and teachings (and become more like him) if we have not opened ourselves to recognize that we need his help.

PRAYER FOR TODAY: Lord, help me today to hear your voice of wisdom. Encourage me to come with an open, contrite heart to receive your Spirit. Amen.

About the author — Jenna Fabiano
Jenna Fabiano is an ordained minister and pastor at Willoughby Church in Langley, British Columbia. She and her family live in nearby Coquitlam, B.C.