Have you ever made a spiritual bucket list? In Proverbs 30, a man named Agur made his spiritual bucket list. He "required" of God two things before he died.
Interestingly, his prayer is the only prayer listed in the entire book of Proverbs. The first thing that Agur asks for is that God would remove from him anything that would hinder his walk with God, such as vanity or lying. (Proverbs 30:8a)
Both of these things, vanity and lying, are issues of the heart and relate to a person's motivation in life. So often Christians are motivated by the vanity of man's approval or praise, instead of being mission-focused on God's will as revealed in Scripture.
Similar to vanity, people lie to make themselves seem better in the eyes of others (consider Ananias and Sapphira - Acts 5). Lying is almost always the result of a vain heart.
Agur understands the emptiness in vanity and lying so he asks God to remove those sinful propensities from his heart.
Secondly, Agur prayed that God would not give him anything that would hinder his relationship with God such as poverty or even wealth. (Proverbs 30:8b-9)
Agur's reasoning is that wealth often creates an unhealthy independence away from God. In contrast, poverty can generate a deep-seated bitterness toward God. In those ways, both wealth and poverty can lead a person away from a spiritually healthy relationship with God.
More than anything, Agur just wanted to be pleasing to God.
In summary, Agur's bucket list prayer is “God, before I die, I want to have a pure heart before You with no vanity and no lying. I want to walk in Your fulfillment and live out my days walking in truth. And God, don't give me anything I can't handle such as wealth, which might make me arrogant; or poverty which could make me bitter."
Agur identifies his spiritual potholes and has a passion to be pleasing to God.
So, what’s on your spiritual bucket list? Let your list be all about pleasing God.
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 30:7-9; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Thess 4:1-8
This devotion was written by Pastor James C. Johnson. These devotionals are being published throughout this pandemic in an effort to further strengthen the faith of our NorthStone church family. Feel free to comment below to offer your feedback about today's devotion.
MORE SFL:
"Overcoming Jealousy" - Pastor James C. Johnson
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