Last night we talked with our granddaughter about situations where someone needs medical attention and bystanders often freeze up or back away. I recalled a situation where our son encountered someone having a seizure. After he helped the person, he told us he was amazed because, “I just knew what to do.”
At that, our granddaughter said the same
thing. She told of taking first aid courses for her job and thinking she’d
forgotten everything, but when the need came up, “I just knew what to do.”
Today’s devotional is about forming good
habits, storing good things in my mind so that when issues come up, or
temptations, or others are in trouble, that good treasure put in is available
and I will “know just what to do.”
Essentially, this is what Jesus said to
the Pharisees who were trying to accuse Him of working for the devil when He cast
demons out of people. They were so jealous of His power that they were not
thinking straight.
Jesus responded, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and
its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can
you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and
the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the
day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned.” (Matthew 12:33–37)
If I take this to heart and put in good
treasure, then the next time someone is sick, or tells me of a tragedy in their
lives, or brings bad news, or is in some kind of trouble, then I will know what
to do and what to say.
This means putting good things in my
heart and mind so when needed, they will come out. The good things are the
truths of God and the attitudes of Jesus Christ. By reading His Word and paying
attention to how He treated people, I am storing up treasure. If I learn His ways
of comforting others, or how to speak when someone is hurting, or where to
direct them when they are in trouble, then if a day comes when that is needed, I
will know what to say and what to do.
However, if I don’t store up good
treasure, then when difficult situations come up, I might panic and run, or nervously laugh and back off, or throw my
hands in the air and look for someone else who knows just what to do, winding
up being useless because I didn’t bother to fill my mind with good treasure.
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