A WORD FOR TODAY, April 7, 2025
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 7, 2025
“Jesus answered them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.’ They said therefore to him, ‘What must we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’” John 6:26-29, WEB
I once visited a museum that had a Plexiglas box with a beehive inside. It was built right into the wall, with access to the outside world for the bees to do their daily work. As I watched, I could see bees coming and going, constantly moving around the hive doing their work. In a beehive, it is necessary for every bee to do its job. The queen produces larvae, the drones mate with the queen, the worker bees get the pollen that feeds the hive. Every bee does its share and the hive works together to accomplish the daily work.
The bee exhibit was fascinating to watch. The bees were in constant movement, going in and out of the hive. With the Plexiglas walls, you could see the action inside, as the worker bees took pollen into the honeycomb. With so much action, one would think that each bee would produce large quantities of honey. Actually, bees only produce 1/12 teaspoon of honey in their entire life. The direct impact on food production that an individual bee makes is minuscule. Yet, bees are vital to our lives. The work of bees affects 1/3 of the food we consume. As they search for pollen to sustain their hive, they pollinate the plants that we eat. Without bees, we would starve. Wild and domestic animals also rely on the work the bees do. It seems as though they don’t accomplish more than just a drop of honey, but they impact the world in a mighty way.
Unfortunately, bees have not always been given the protection or respect they need and deserve. We are learning that the chemicals we use to grow perfect lawns are killing the bees that are necessary for the food supply. We are sometimes afraid of bees that swarm, or annoyed by bees that fly our way, swatting them to protect ourselves. “It’s just one bee” we think, but we quantify the work of that one bee, we are learning that every bee is necessary to keep our world working well. In the case of bees, every life matters, even if there is no way for us to count the impact they have.
We want to quantify everything. We want to see tangible evidence of the value of our work. Many people with jobs in our modern world can’t show physical proof that they have been hard at work. They try to show their value by the number of customers they serve or the amount of money their work produces. Still, how do you quantify the lives we impact by our daily lives? I like to think that my work as a mother has touched more than just my children. I like to think that holding the door for a frazzled mother with young children in tow. Did I boost someone’s spirit with a kind word or a smile? Did that boost impact someone else’s day. We never know.
The more important question we should ask is whether we have impacted the world with our faith. Now, some people want to quantify this, too, but counting how many people they’ve introduced to Jesus. I knew some people online who could number how many people were “saved” by their work. It is true that we are meant to shine the light of Christ in all we do and pray that our work will make a difference in every way, including spiritual, to the people who cross our path. Is it up to us to number the lives that have been changed because of us? It isn’t our job to actively convert people and keep a ledger to account for the people we have “saved.” If we do, it is time to stop. This is not the work God has called us to do.
A bee produces a drop of honey but touches all our lives in hidden but incredible ways. Many think the success of a church or ministry has to do with numbers. We think that if we have a congregation of a thousand, we are more blessed by God than one that has only a hundred. Ministries think it is necessary to be built up visibility by doing miraculous things to prove that God is working through them. They want to show the world tangible evidence of God’s blessings. But God works through the faith of His people. A thousand people who are working to accomplish worldly things will not have the impact that just one person of faith will have. That one person might make the tiniest impression on the world, but they will touch so much more with their faith than we will ever see.
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, April 7, 2025
Part of my prayer life during Lent will be an examination of conscience using the seven deadly sins. I will daily pray through a number of questions for each sin: Pride, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Covetousness, Gluttony, Anger. Will you join me? Remember, this is about examining yourself, not seeing others in these questions. If you see others, consider it as a mirror and ponder your own life in light of that judgment.
This week is “Gluttony.”
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are expedient. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be brought under the power of anything. 13 “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 Now God raised up the Lord, and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be! 16 Or don’t you know that he who is joined to a prostitute is one body? For, “The two”, he says, “will become one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, WEB
I have never quite thought of myself as guilty of most of the seven deadly sins, but as I have read through the questions for each one, I realize that I am guilty, even if it is only a little bit. The thing is: with sin, even a little bit is too much sin. If we blame others without considering our own fault in this broken world. If we are sad when we see the success of our neighbor. If we lounge when I pray. If we tell impure jokes. If I misuse my money. If I drink too much, even once. If I think about getting even. These all seem like no big deal, but they go against God’s intent for our lives. Sadly, little sins can grow into big ones.
This Lent practice has convicted me to look at my life in a new way, forcing me to ask how I have been sinning against God and my neighbor in ways I did not consider. However, when it comes to today’s deadly sin, I don’t have difficulty seeing myself as guilty. I have gotten better about treating my body as the Temple of God, but even now I don’t always use food as I should. In the Examination of Conscience that I am using as a prayer practice this Lent, sloth is defined as “a disordered love of eating and drinking.” Do I eat to live or live to eat? Do I drink to excess? Do I get drunk? Do I misuse prescription drugs? Do I use illegal drugs? Have I allowed myself to become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs?
The Bible mentions gluttony as an excessive and indulgent consumption of food and drink. In several passages, gluttony is condemned as a sinful behavior that goes against the principles of temperance and self-control. Proverbs 23:20-21 warns against overindulgence, stating, “Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat; for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.”
Additionally, the New Testament also touches upon the idea of self-control in relation to eating habits. Philippians 3:18-19 states, “For many walk, of whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, as the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.” This passage suggests that prioritizing physical desires, including indulging in excess food, can lead one away from spiritual and moral virtues.
The Bible encourages believers to practice moderation, gratitude, and stewardship in all aspects of life, including their approach to food and drink. While enjoying the nourishment provided by God is not inherently sinful, the emphasis is placed on maintaining a balanced and disciplined lifestyle, avoiding the pitfalls of gluttony and excess that may lead to spiritual and physical harm. God wants us to remember every day as we face the temptations that will lead us to sin in so many different ways, that our body is His Temple, He created us and redeemed us, buying our lives with the sacrificial blood of His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus.