Devotionals

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Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him.
Judges 16:19
At the onset of GSM in Nigeria, the in-thing was to have a mobile phone and Femi wasn’t left out as his mom did everything she could to get him a phone. When he got his first phone, he was quite excited that he could now give out a number to his friends who might ask for his contact. It wasn’t long before he started desiring another model so he traded with his aunty and then exchanged the one he got from her with that of a friend which seemed even better. Then, the phone fell from his pocket in a taxi and a “smart” passenger repossessed it. He now had to settle for his dad’s very old phone which his brother had also used. When this phone started to malfunction, his mum bought a new phone and gave him her old one. He used this one for some time and decided to sell it. When the money was not enough to get another one, he got another from his mom who obviously wasn’t tired of giving him phones. His mom could not bear the look of frustration on his face when that one also was stolen and gave him another which he gave out eventually. His brother gave him yet another and when this one was “sown”, he decided enough was enough and bought one for himself which he’s been using ever since.
King Solomon sacrificed a thousand Whole-Burnt-Offerings on the altar at Gibeon and God asked him what he wanted. His request for wisdom was granted with perks. He brought something to the table and there was an exchange. In the case of Samson, he grew up endowed with abilities. He apparently trivialized the grace and gifting and lost his eyes because of it. One might wonder why he told Delilah his secret seeing that she called for the Philistines every time he told her something else was the source of his might. Perhaps if he had brought something to the table, he would have placed a greater value on the gift he had.
When we pay our tithes and give our offerings, we are making an exchange. We have a right to demand the benefits that accrue from this act when we see a delay in delivery in much the same way as we would call a delivery shop to inquire about a delay in the arrival of goods we paid for. Because we brought something to the table, we have a right to a request. Heaven responds to the highest bidder. If all the students in a class are praying to God to be the head and not the tail, God will answer because they are His own but since He respects no man, He will ‘respect’ the man who gives his best like he did to Abel. All others will fall in place in proportion to their effort (Gen. 4:4).
Need a change? Make an exchange.

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