December 17

Nahum 1-3

Revelation 8

Psalm 136:1-26

Proverbs 30:7-9

O God, I beg two favors from you;

let me have them before I die.

First, help me never to tell a lie.

Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say,

"Who is the Lord?"

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus

insult God's holy name.

~Proverbs 30:7-9~

If you could ask God for anything, what would you ask for? We all know that God has the power to do anything and He desires to give good things to His children, but this doesn't mean that He will just grant us whatever we want. He is not a genie in a magic lamp. He is not a divine Santa Claus. But what if God told you He would give you whatever you asked for, no matter what. What would you ask for?

In these verses, Agur tells us what he wants most from God. And I find this incredible. First, he asks God to help him never to lie. Then he asks for just enough for his needs to be met. The reason he wants all his needs to be met is so he will not sin against God. He knows himself well enough to say that if he were rich he would become arrogant and proud. If he were poor, he would resort to stealing. What Agur wants most from God is for God to help him to not to sin. Wow.

I have to admit that this would not be the first thought that would pop into my head when thinking about this question. There are plenty of things I would want, and some of them are good things. But would I even think to ask God to help me not to sin? Would I ask for something that would only bring me closer to Him? The more I think about it, I have to say that if I asked Him for this, I guarantee that He would be more that happy to give that to me.

What sins in your life do you struggle with? What gets in the way of your relationship with God? Ask Him for help with your struggle. If you ask Him to help you not to sin, you will not be disappointed with His answer.