Feb 26 Devotion: Yogi Berra said, “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore”.

Haggai 1:6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

         Yogi Berra is almost as famous for his Yogi-isms and he was for his skill as a Hall of Fame baseball player. The “a nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore” is one of his best. The thought behind it was, it seems as though money just doesn’t go as far in buying power as it once did. A well known preacher of days gone by said, “if things keep going the way they’re going, the day will come when a loaf of bread will cost a dollar.” We all know the day of the dollar bread has long since passed by. The prophet Haggai explains why this dilemma happened to those that returned from captivity and were now back in Jerusalem.

         God brought the Jews back home after a time of judgment in captivity. He gave them a task to do, and they were (generously speaking) half-hearted in their efforts. In fact, they were more concerned with their own selfish endeavors (“ceiled houses” – verse 4) than they were with the house of God and the things of God. Their priorities were wrong, so God withheld his blessings and there were consequences. What they were doing did not result in what they expected. They knew how to farm, but the yield of the field was poor. They couldn’t understand why. They had food, but it didn’t satisfy as it once did. They would have something to drink, but it did not quench their thirst. They had clothes, but they couldn’t get warm and their wages didn’t have any buying power. They couldn’t understand why this was happening until God sent his prophet to them and told them that God was not blessing them because of their disobedience. You see, God satisfies and blesses, but when he withdraws his hand then things just do not go right. They were experiencing the “a nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore” scenario. When God is blessing, we marvel at how he can make little become much, but when he withdraws his blessing, we can’t understand why it seems that everything goes wrong.

         It would serve us well to understand 1 Samuel 15:22, “…Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” God desires our obedience and he blesses it. This devotion is not coming from a prosperity gospel perspective. We don’t give to get (that is selfishness) but we should give ourselves to God in obedience and he will bless us. That is just truth. He honors those that humbly honor him. When you serve the Lord from the heart you will see that God will fix the hole in your bag that has been letting all the money fall out. I am writing this devotion from a position of experience. I have seen God meet the need when it seemed impossible. But I have also witnessed his withholding. Let us serve the Lord with our whole heart.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.         

In Christ’s Service,

Bro. Adrian Moore

2 Cor. 4:5