Souls who follow their hearts thrive ...
Ignore the Word and suffer; honor God's commands and grow rich. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells! Sound thinking makes for gracious living, but liars walk a rough road. A commonsense person lives good sense; fools litter the country with silliness. Souls who follow their hearts thrive; fools bent on evil despise matters of soul. -Proverbs 13:12-16,19 MSG
There are two basic ways to live - from your head or from your heart. When we are young we tend to play it safe and live in the black and white world of our heads - the black and white is easy and merely requires a set of simplistic rules to aid us in the complex decisions of life. The brain is most comfortable with the black or white and is uncomfortable with the gray. Yet the gray heart areas are where true we find the beautiful things in life like love and friendship.
When I ponder what it means to "honor God's commands" or heed the "teaching of the wise" I think of trusting God with all of my heart. Commonsense and wisdom are things that often cannot be discerned by logic and principles because they are "matters of soul" - sometimes we need to dig deep with our hearts and souls to find the wise and sensible way.
Help us to be wise Lord and trust in you with all of hearts and not lean on our own understanding.
Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick ...
A God-loyal life keeps you on track; sin dumps the wicked in the ditch. A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life. The rich can be sued for everything they have, but the poor are free of such threats. The lives of good people are brightly lit streets; the lives of the wicked are dark alleys. Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around. -Proverbs 13:6-9,12 MSG
Being faithful to God is a lifelong pursuit that is replete with trials, heartaches and disappointments. Yet this kind of life is also accompanied by something that transcends pain and suffering - knowing God and being known by him somehow puts these things in perspective. As I look back over my life I realize that even in deep despair I had a sense that God was with me - when Ellen, my first wife, died I had a deep sense that someone was walking beside me.
It is this understanding that causes faith, faithfulness and perseverance to spring up from our souls. In truth no one can take you to court and strip you of these things. No one can take our integrity from us. These things light our way in life and cause hope to arise and fill our hearts even in the toughest of times. These are the the simple things that make our lives so full. Apart from faith, hope and love life would be without meaning but with them life is so rich.
You Lord are the author and completer of our faith. Author faith in us today where none exists.
The speech of the upright saves.
The words of the wicked kill; the speech of the upright saves. The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble; the conversation of good people keeps them out of it. Well-spoken words bring satisfaction; well-done work has its own reward. Truthful witness by a good person clears the air, but liars lay down a smoke screen of deceit. Rash language cuts and maims, but there is healing in the words of the wise. -Proverbs 12:6,13-14,17-18
The stark contrasts in these verses bring to light the struggles that we have in life. Are we people who speak life or death? Do our words cut and maim or do they heal? These verses remind me that James writes in his epistle:
"A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!"James writes these verses to believers who (he knows this from his own experiences) struggle with the things that they say. James knows that once something is spoken it can never be taken back. He understands, like Solomon, that wisdom is never found in a rash cutting response. I have found that to be true in my life as well.
These words challenge me today to listen more than I speak ... to think before I spout foolish words ... to consider if my words will heal or maim the one listening to what I say. Life or death? The choice is ours. Speak life.
Forgive me for the hurtful ways that I have spoken Lord. Help my words to bless and not curse today.
The world of the generous gets larger ...
The desires of good people lead straight to the best, but wicked ambition ends in angry frustration. The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. The one who blesses others is abundantly blessed; those who help others are helped. Curses on those who drive a hard bargain! Blessings on all who play fair and square! The one who seeks good finds delight; the student of evil becomes evil. -Proverbs 11:23-27 MSG
As I read these verses my mind flashed back to a time in 1984 when I was negotiating the purchase of the home I would live in for 18 years. I had reached an impasse with the seller and, out of frustration, I began to pray. As I knelt beside my bed these questions came to me: "What is your motive? Is it to rob this man?" Yikes! The questions confronted me with my desire to get the best of the seller. I had a similar prayerful interaction when I sold my house as well.
What is it in us that wants to get the best of another human being? Is it greed or pride? Is it the same motive that causes us to be stingy with a hard working waiter or waitress? Why do we not want to bless the other party with the better deal? These question hit to the heart of what it means to be generous. In a sense generosity is giving a person more than they deserve. This kind of generosity stretches us to the max and causes us to embrace outrageous grace.
Help us today dear Father to embrace the kind of generosity that you had when you sent Jesus to live amongst us.
Without good direction, people lose their way ...
When it goes well for good people, the whole town cheers; when it goes badly for bad people, the town celebrates. When right-living people bless the city, it flourishes; evil talk turns it into a ghost town in no time. Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances. -Proverbs 11:10-11,14
In the United States, my country, a war of ideas has been raging for as long as I can remember - the country was founded on big ideas like freedom and unalienable God-given rights. And for many years faith has played a major role - when I came to faith in 1976 one of the candidates was a strong Christian who was pictured many times praying in public. That candidate was elected that year but ousted four years later by Christians who did not embrace his ideas.
So when Solomon speaks of things going "well for good people" I wonder about the application for our lives today and if his words are more ideological than practical. Yet it causes me to remember that:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)I have watched apathy gain a strong hold of my generation and the ones following mine. These words from Edmund Burke ring out and resonate with what Solomon opines in today's verses. Engagement in our culture is not an option. We must pray and work for God's will to be done and kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
Once again we kneel Lord and ask for your will to be done and your kingdom to come - on earth as it is in heaven.
Good character is the best insurance ...
The integrity of the honest keeps them on track; the deviousness of crooks brings them to ruin. A thick bankroll is no help when life falls apart, but a principled life can stand up to the worst. Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life. Good character is the best insurance; crooks get trapped in their sinful lust. -Proverbs 11:3-6
I once heard that character is reflected in what you do when no one is looking. I like that. So many of us learned to behave when our parents were around but lost our way and misbehaved when we left home. It reminds me of the parable of the prodigal son - he sinned and lost all of his inheritance when he left home. Yet a spark of character arose in that prodigal as he left the stench of the sty and returned home to his loving father. Bad character is not permanent.
Is there a better thing to aspire to than integrity? Living an external life that is consistent with my inner life challenges and inspires me. Even so, I think that it is so easy to pretend and play the hypocrite. Jesus put it this way: "For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." Integrity, being the same on the inside and outside, keeps us on track and connected to reality.
Help us Lord to be filled with your righteous character on the inside and the outside.
Chatterboxes die of an empty heart
Liars secretly hoard hatred; fools openly spread slander. The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words. The speech of a good person is worth waiting for; the blabber of the wicked is worthless. The talk of a good person is rich fare for many, but chatterboxes die of an empty heart. -Proverbs 10:18-21 MSG
In the sixth chapter of the gospel of Luke Jesus gives us insight into what Solomon speaks of in these verses:
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."I sometimes think that what we say is like a bank account - we cannot withdraw more than we have deposited. If our heart is filled with deposits of envy we will utter envious things. If we have deposited gratitude then thanksgiving will roll off of our tongues. It is why it is so important to fill our hearts with life giving spiritual deposits.
Making deposits into our hearts requires the same diligence that a person saving for retirement needs. Each morning when we awake we make choices about what we will fill our hearts with. Will we preempt an angry outburst later in the day by filling our heart with forgiveness early in the morning or will we let the anger percolate? Will we meditate on the scriptures and fill our hearts with it or will we focus on something else. The choice of deposit is ours.
Help us to know how to store love and other good things in out heart Lord.
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