Friday, January 16 Devo:

THE JUST SHALL STAND BY FAITH!

Jaylon Baker

Proverbs 24:16, "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity."

I remember a time when I was hard at work. My task was to install the subfloor of the building I was working on with my partner. The project entailed my partner and I individually separating sheets of decking or subfloor one at a time and putting them into place 20ft up, then repeating the process until the floor was fully in place. On this specific occasion I put my foot on an area known as a trap which is a place on the floor that looks normal but isn’t supported by anything. If stepped on one is likely to fall through. You can guess what happened next. I fell through, but in the midst of falling my safety gear stopped me from dropping to the ground. Safety gear is only meant to prevent you from falling but is almost impossible to pull yourself back up. Instantly my partner and some others ran over and helped me back to safety. Before I went back to work I thanked my co-workers, told myself I’d never do that again and would be more careful.

A righteous man falls seven times and arises. Three out of the seven times that righteous man falls he’s likely to be picked up by a brother/sister to get back on his feet. The text specifies that the man is righteous meaning even the one who is positionally (IN) Christ may fall, but the same grace filled cushion he fell on is the same grace filled foundation he can STAND on!

Philippians 2:3–4, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Although our Savior Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, NEVER fell (Hallelujah) he was entrenched in community. Most of His time was spent with His twelve apostles. His close intimate circle of the 3 aside for times of private prayer. The scriptures also tell us He had a wider circle of disciples when He sent out the seventy in pairs (Lk 10:1). I don’t know where I would be in my walk if it wasn’t for Jesus Christ’s grace and mercy. I’m also grateful for my brothers and sisters in Christ who pray for me, keep me accountable, and uphold me to the standard for which I am called.

Though a righteous (right standing man) may fall seven times he gets back up, and upon doing so he is a righteous (right standing) man before God.