October 12: Luke 11:5-8
Key Verse: Luke 11:8
I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Devotion:
One of the things we do in relationships is take others for granted at times even when we do not mean to and say we will not. When Jesus told us to love one another is was so we would not take anyone for granted and we would go out of our way to help those in need.
I have learned the hard way because I have had relationships break down because I have taken someone for granted. Once we can get our heads around this simple fact we can move forward and we can begin to love people for who they are instead of just because God says so!
On the other end of the stick we also need to allow people to know what our needs are. Any relationship is a two way communion and sometime we need to explain exactly what we need to move forward. This parable of the neighbour who came knocking to see if there was any bread they could give to their travelling friend is a case in point: unless we ask we should not expect others to give because they may not know our need.
God wants us to be like this with Him too. Although He does know our needs, unless we ask we will not be acknowledging Him as the one who can supply our needs. And when someone comes out of the blue to ask for help we need to be considerate and give what we can.
Points to Ponder:
Do you take people for granted?
Do you expect people to know your needs?