THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever won anything? Did you take all the credit for winning?
READ TOGETHER
Proverbs 21:31. The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
God should get the credit.
That’s what Solomon is teaching us in the proverb. He is using an illustration that would make sense in his life, horses and battles. King Solomon owned a lot of horses. In fact, archeologists have uncovered ancient stables from around the time of Solomon. These stables have room for hundreds of horses and chariots.
Horses gave an army a great advantage in battle. Can you think of why having horses would make an army more powerful than an army without horses?
Long before Israel had a king, way back in the time when Moses was leading Israel, God told his people to not have an army with horses. Here it is in the book of Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 17:16. [The king] must not acquire many horses for himself.
Why not? Why wouldn’t God want his people to have the biggest and most powerful army in the world, including battle horses? Because of what the second half of our proverb says – the victory belongs to the Lord.
Have you ever won anything? A game? A competition or contest? Have you ever achieved something that you worked hard at? I’m sure you have. Did you give God the credit for your victory? I hope so. There is no victory without Jesus, is there? Especially victory over our sin and selfishness. When Jesus rose from the dead he won the victory over everything bad. He destroyed sin’s power, including death. Now we don’t have to win victories, we can just enjoy life without everything being a competition or a way to prove how great we are. We can just work hard and worship without having to win.
Because of Jesus we have the eternal victory over sin and selfishness.
With Jesus we can work hard, not just to win, but to worship.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Look at any trophies or awards you have. Give Jesus the credit for your success.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you are my victory. I don’t have to win; I can simply worship instead. Amen.
TLICfamily 