The Long Blessing

(Pro 9:11 KJV) For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.

Every once in awhile you see the headlines that say people of faith live longer and have happier lives.  I am not sure who did the research or how well it was done but the results certainly support what this verse is saying.  In fact it supports much of what Proverbs is saying.

Why would living a righteous life make it a better life?  It would not just be because it is longer.  Preserve me from living to 100 with dementia.  I think that it also contains the idea that the years will be filled with more that makes life worth living.

So?  Be blessed.  Be blessed for a long time. 

Too Old to Change

(Pro 8:22 KJV) The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

Who or what is Wisdom?  There is a lot of personification going on.  There are places where the description would fit Jesus and others that would fit the Spirit.  We need to be careful in getting dogmatic on the issue.  What we can be sure of is that Wisdom is very old. 

That tells us that there are certain laws and principles that transcend time and history.  There are truths that are bigger than culture or education.  They have not changed and will not change.  This understanding is part of our understanding of God and His creation.  It is why we can look at the scientific method and feel like it will help us understand how God did things.  It is why we don’t need to feel threatened by the latest fad in morality.

So?  Some things never change.  Wrong will always be wrong.  Sin will always be wrong.  We have choices and we have a foundation.  Sounds like a reason for security to me.

Pre Promise

(Pro 7:5 KJV) That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

Protection is a wonderful thing.  What we don’t like about the promise of this verse is the work up that comes from the previous four verses.  We see a list of things that are expected of us before we are delivered.  Look back over them.  We see a collection of actions on our part:  Keep, lay up, bind, write, say, call.  We are to be involved.

Yes, we are saved by grace.  Grace is active in our lives.  God is sovereign.  Keep in mind that in His sovereignty He has chosen to demand our buy in as a condition of that power.  It is called free will.

So?  We are not robots.  God is not a vending machine.  Jesus freely died on the cross so we could freely come to Him.  Glorious but also demanding. 

Checking Your List

(Pro 6:27 KJV) Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?

Temptation and pride can be a deadly mix.  We need to be aware of our weaknesses.  When we are aware we can avoid the easy fail.  I have learned never to buy a box of Cheese-Its that is over 100 calories.  It doesn’t matter how big it is I will eat it all.  If the box contains Brussel sprouts then I have nothing to worry about.

We also need to be aware of our strengths.  That is where the pride comes in.  Often we think we are stronger than experience demonstrates.  The devil works through our pride to bring us down.

So?  The best advice is to avoid anything that waters down our chances of living a righteous life.  Santa Clause isn’t the only one dealing in lists.  Your list may differ from mine but we both have one. 

Smooth

(Pro 5:3 KJV) For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Have you ever felt like you had a speech impediment when you tried to speak?  You stumble and stutter.  You can’t remember the right word.  You struggle to find the end of a sentence.  You realize that your verb is not matching your noun.  I have been there.  I get that way when I need to leave a message on a voice mail abomination.  This reminds us that “smoother” (2509) speech is not necessary to be godly.

On the surface this warns us against people who are too glib.  It also should remind us that being genuine is more important than great rhetoric. 

So?  One of the turmoils of life that we are not to get all tensed up about is speaking like a professional.  Unless you are going to make radio commercials it won’t help you a lot. 

Two Is Better than One

(Pro 4:3 KJV) For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

This is not a doctrinal proof text but is does go along with something that is consistent throughout scripture and through observation of life.  Children need both a father and a mother.  The reason we need to reinforce this is because our current cultural elites are trying to drive the father out of the home.  How many TV programs do you watch where there is a healthy family?  I can’t answer that because I don’t watch TV but I saw a pattern when I did.

The pattern is to have no man around or to make the man a fool.  This goes across the board.  My main memory of reading Berenstain Bears was that the father was a nice guy but pretty incompetent. 

So?  We need to keep reminding ourselves that our culture and out faith do not run on the same rails.  Keep checking. 

True Choice

(Pro 3:3 KJV) Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

“Truth” (571) is a choice.  That seems strange to people who believe that God exists and that He is the source of all truth.  It makes us oddballs.  I, for one, have a hard time with people of the left who reject objective truth, but they exist.  In fact they are the large majority in all of the areas of public forums such as education, media and politics.  You have a major school of philosophy called deconstruction that teaches meaning is different for everyone, totally subjective.

There will be areas that are vague.  That does not mean that there is no real truth.  We need to start with the clear truths that God gives us in the Bible and build our cloudy decisions based on those principles.

So?  Don’t let go of the anchor God has given us for making choices.