I will be taking a short hiatus from the blog for a few weeks to tend to a family medical situation. Lord willing, I’ll be back in a few weeks to pick up with Proverbs 5. Thank you.
Archive for April, 2010
Short hiatus
Posted in Proverbs on April 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Proverbs 4:20-27
Posted in Proverbs, tagged blinders, focus, peripheral vision on April 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
verses 25-26: “Let your eyes look directly ahead, And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. Watch the path of your feet, And all your ways will be established.”
Most everyone has seen a picture of a horse pulling a carriage or a wagon; some like me have even seen it in real life. I’ve seen the old-fashioned mechanism called “blinders” that they would put on these horses, to keep the horses from noticing things that would appear in their peripheral vision from distracting or spooking them. The blinders would force the horse to look only straight ahead. Sometimes I think blinders would be a great device for some car drivers who seem to get easily distracted! 🙂
Solomon is warning here to not take your gaze off the path you’re on. Temptation easily lies along the ditches and the weeds beside the road. If you’re not careful to watch where you going, that’s where you wind up…the ditches and the weeds. A high school band director I know was chiding his band, who were taking in all the sights and sounds of the homecoming football game and the visiting alumni; he said just minutes before the halftime show, “I want you to have a good time, but NOW is your time to FOCUS!”
In a world full of distractions, ditches, and weeds, make sure to keep your focus on Him!
Have a blessed day!
Proverbs 4:10-19
Posted in Proverbs, tagged fluorescent, incandescent, the longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows on April 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »
verses 18-19: “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they stumble.”
I think I’m finally about to get used to the new fluorescent, energy-efficient light bulbs. I admit I was used to the old incandescent kind that “instantly” turned on at full strength. It was a little frustrating at first with the new bulbs, waiting a couple of seconds while they “glowed” to life! However, I noticed that they glowed brightly after they reached full strength…and never dimmed. Even when you turned the power off, you could still see the glow of them for a while.
Ever stumble over something in the dark? I’ve remembered walking through the darkened house, going to the kitchen or the bathroom. I wasn’t alarmed when I stepped on something fuzzy near the clothes hamper…I figured it was clothes. But when the fuzzy thing moves…yes, I could qualify for the standing jump at the Olympics! I was relieved to find it was the cat…but sometimes it was a spider! Yikes!
How sad it is for the wicked, who care not what they stumble over in their dark schemes.
The longer you serve God…the longer you know and serve Jesus Christ…the better it gets! I’m not saying the Christian life is a bed of roses; there will be trials. However, it’s comforting to see the Light at the end of those dark tunnels!
Have a blessed day!
Proverbs 4:1-9
Posted in Proverbs, tagged James 1:5-6, Matthew 7:7 on April 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »
verse 7: “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding.”
“When I win the lottery, here’s what I’m going to do with the money”.
“When I’m rich, I’m going to (fill in the blank).”
“When I graduate from school, I’ll be (fill in the blank).”
We hear these statements all the time; sometimes we are the ones making them. When I have this, I’ll do that. The key of course is “when”. The person making these statements doesn’t possess the riches or things that they talk about yet. They have dreams and plans for them; that’s fine to do. Unfortunately, concrete plans or actions are sometimes made on the stuff of dreams, yet until the subject of those dreams is acquired, nothing will happen.
The writer of Proverbs states here: the beginning of wisdom is to get it! Acquire it! Because it’s hard to use wisdom if you don’t have it. You won’t have it, if you don’t get it first.
I’m reminded of the words of Jesus from Matthew 7:7: “Ask, and it shall be given to you, seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” My wife was reminded of the words of James 1:5-6: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.”
Something to think about.
Combing The Word 