As the week draws toward the Sabbath, a devotional asking whether our investments are meant to glorify God, or to glorify ourselves.
"Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed."
— 1 Samuel 2:3 (NKJV)
As the week winds down toward the Sabbath, I find myself asking a question I don't always make time for: what am I actually building my life toward?
Ellen White describes a vision of towering buildings, raised not to honor God but to gratify pride and provoke the envy of others. I read that and thought about my own version of those buildings — not literal towers, but the quieter monuments I sometimes build without noticing. A reputation. An achievement I keep returning to in my mind. A sense of being further along than someone else.
None of those things are wrong in themselves. But this verse asks a harder question than whether I'm successful. It asks whether I'm proud about it — whether arrogance has quietly crept into how I talk about what I've built, even just in my own head.
This line stopped me today:
"Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it!... They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of human beings."
— Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pp. 12–13
"The first duty of human beings." Not a side project alongside my real goals — the first duty. I want to actually take inventory tonight, before the Sabbath begins, of where my time, money, and energy have been going this week. Not to feel guilty about it, but to honestly ask whether it's pointed toward Him or toward me.
Tomorrow is a gift — a chance to rest from striving and remember whose approval actually matters.
🙏 Closing Prayer
Lord, as I come to the end of this week and toward Your holy Sabbath, examine my heart honestly. Show me anywhere pride has quietly shaped my ambitions instead of Your glory. Help me invest my time, money, and energy in ways that actually point others to You, not to me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
— Kay, Abide Daily Ministry
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Abide Daily Ministry
Christ-centered daily devotionals to help you abide in Jesus.