Daily Devotional For Monday, April 13, 2026

Good morning Southside! Today’s Devotional is from Proverbs 30:7-9:

“Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: (8) Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, (9) That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God” (NASB).

We are told in Proverbs 30:1, that these Proverbs are not from Solomon. They are from: The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle.The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal” (NASB). He was probably a compatriot of Lemeul, the king of Mass (Proverbs 31:1). We really do not know much about Agur, except what is given to us here. Whoever he was, he was a man of in-depth thinking who challenged his readers with stimulating questions and words.

Agur asked God for two things that were impossible for him to produce: honesty and contentment. He basically asked God not to give him poverty and not to give him wealth. Poverty lies to you, “You can’t trust God. You can’t depend on God.” And riches lie to you, “I don’t need God. I have everything by my own hand. Keep depending on yourself, not God.” So, why does Agur ask for these two things from God?

He tells us. First, if he has too much he will deny the Lord. If you remember when the Hebrews were wandering through the wilderness, God gave them daily manna. Why daily? To teach them to depend on Him and not on themselves. God wanted His people to know that their existence was only possible by depending on God, not bread (Deut. 8:3). Jesus reaffirmed this in Matthew 4:4. God had told His people that once they entered the Promise Land, it was a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Meaning – it would be easy for them to think it was the land that was providing to them and not the Lord.

Second, if he is in poverty, he would be tempted to steal to survive. If we contemporize it for us today, he would be tempted to cheat on his income tax, misuse his petty cash fund or be stingy with the poor, reduce or not tithe at all. To those of us in America, Agur makes the strangest request of God. “I don’t want to be poor or wealthy; just let me be middle class. I don’t want to win the lottery and be filthy rich and I do not want to be on food stamps and government subsidies, cursing You for my poverty!” His motivation is to honor God with his life. 

When we read his proverb or prayer, we see similarity in Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:11, “Give us this day our daily bread” (NASB) – not weekly or monthly bread. But daily – stressing our daily dependence on the Lord to meet all our needs (Phil. 4:19). Agur understands the dangers economic extremes produce. We live in a capitalistic culture that says: “Get all you can. Then can all you get and then sit on the can.” Advertisers through commercials and ads remind us how deprived our lives are. You buy the latest model and then before you know it, they are coming out with the next new and improved version. Agur reminds us to resist greed and persist with God. Jesus reminded us that our lives do not consist of all the toys we have (Luke 12:15).

Reflection Assignment: How content would the Lord say you are? What do you really think of Agur’s request to God and why? Why do you think we want more and more and more and why is this never really satisfying?

Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 15:16, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, Than great treasure and turmoil with it” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, help me to be content with whatever Your hand provides. Forgive me when I spend money I do not have on things that do not matter. Give me a heart for the person of Jesus Christ and not possessions. Give me my “daily bread” and I will be both thankful and content. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly