Daily Devotionals

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

Devotional: September 20th

“Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.”

The natural tendency is to want to hobnob with the upper crust. In every human heart there is the lust to associate with those who are prominent, wealthy and aristocratic. So Paul’s advice in HYPERLINK "javascript:" really cuts across the grain of nature. He says, “Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position” (NIV). There are no castes in the Church. Christians should live above class distinctions.

A story that illustrates this is told of Fred Elliot. One morning he was having family devotions at the breakfast table when he heard a noisy clatter in the yard. He realized that the garbage collector had arrived. So he put down his open Bible on the table, went to the window, opened it, called out a cheery greeting to the scavenger, then returned to the table to resume the devotions. To him it was just as sacred to greet the garbage collector as it was to read the Bible.

There was another servant of the Lord who took our text quite literally. Jack Wyrtzen conducted a Bible camp each summer at Schroon Lake, N.Y. At one of the adult conferences, a guest showed up with a serious physical impairment. Because he could not control the muscles of his mouth, he was not able to swallow all his food. Much of it came back out and fell down on the newspapers with which he covered his chest and lap. The scene was not conducive to pleasant eating and as a result, this man usually sat at a table by himself.

Because of the pressures of his work Jack Wyrtzen was often late arriving at the dining hall. Whenever he appeared at the door, people would wave to him excitedly, beckoning him to come and sit at their table. But Jack never did. He always went to the table where this guest was eating alone. He condescended to a man of low estate.

“A Christian general was once seen talking to a poor old woman. Friends remonstrated with him, saying, ‘You ought to consider your rank.’ The general answered, ‘What if my Lord had considered His rank?’”(Choice Gleanings).

In his poem “For A’ That and A’ That,” Robert Burns reminds us that in spite of a lowly position in life, a man’s a man for all that. He says that the man of independent mind can laugh at the tinsel show of fools in silk.

When we think of how our Savior condescended to us in our low estate, it is absurd that we should fail to do so with others.