Set the Alarm

(Pro 7:3 KJV)  Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

This morning I was thinking about the benefit of rules and schedules.  It has to do with a dressing over a suture I received to deal with some skin cancer.  It is all very routine and I have been through the ritual before.  One of the directions was to not remove the bandages or get them wet for 48 hours.  Am I being legalistic if I actually wait 48 hours instead of taking them off at 47?  Am I in bondage to arbitrary deadlines?  Am I giving up my freedom of choice?  In my heart I know it would not make any difference but in my mind I understand that once you start moving the goal post the game becomes impossible.  Victory becomes meaningless.  If there was a compelling need I would ignore the 48 hour line.  In the absence it is a matter of discipline.  

I think that is one of the benefits of the instructions of this verse.  It makes it easier to remember things that we might forget and harder to forget what we don’t want to remember.  There is no merit of grace in having a verse of scripture tied to your wrist.  The point is to read it and apply it.  It is a merit of the alarm on your bedside clock.

So?  Look for all the helps you can get.  Don’t forget the goal.

Feigned Submission

(Pro 6:12-15 KJV)  A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.  He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.  Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.

In my reading I noticed a parallel between Psalms 66 and this verse through at least verse 14.  The verse in Psalms that got my attention misses the point if you are reading the KJV.

(Psa 66:3 KJV)  Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.

That sounds good but read the NASB,

(Psa 66:3 NAS77) Say to God, "How awesome are Thy works! Because of the greatness of Thy power Thine enemies will give feigned obedience to Thee.

The KJV word “submit” (3584) is “feigned” in the NASB.  The word does mean to submit but with a spirit of deception.  This is the submission of the traitor or spy.  This is the person who comes to church and testifies gloriously and then steals out of the offering plate.  As you look through the four verses you see a public persona and a private goal that are totally opposed.

First we need to examine ourselves and make sure we are not falling into this kind of thing.  It is easy to be critical of others in areas where we are weak.  In fact, I think that is fairly common.

Then we need to keep our radar on.  Paul warned the church in Ephesus to be alert for wolves in their midst.  We need to have the same awareness.

So?  Check to make sure your spiritual engines are not in neutral.  Part of having free will is a responsibility to be vigilant. 

That Crack in the Sidewalk

(Pro 5:22 KJV)  His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

Today this brought to mind what some might consider a tangent but I think it applies.  Am I the only person who tends to blame others for my own failures?  It could be as general an excuse as blaming the government.  It could be as silly as blaming the dog, and I don’t have a dog.  I know that when I trip over something I glare at the offending spot even if I can’t see what made me stumble.  It obviously couldn’t be my clumsiness.  

I glory in the knowledge that God is patient.  The Bible says God is love.  The first quality listed in the definition of love is patience.  When I look at my life I am amazed at the patience God has for me as well as the rest of the world.

So?  Rejoice in God’s patience but don’t take it for granted.  We are expected to grow in grace.  If it was good enough for Jesus as a child it is good enough for us. 

Put It High

(Pro 4:23 KJV)  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

This morning was one of those in which I was bogged down.  I rose early without an alarm but there didn’t seem to be any fire in the boiler.  I stumbled through the rituals of getting the coffee going and checking the headlines for the day and then settled into my recliner to focus on praise and worship.  I would imagine you have had those days.  It would be easy to take that experience as the norm and surrender to ennui.  

These are the times when “diligence” (4929) is necessary.  The word has the idea of locking up in a cell or even a prison.  I think it may have been what Paul was talking about,

(2Co 10:5 KJV)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

So?  Think of it as putting all your medications on a high shelf or locked cupboard when the grandchildren come over for a romp.  Keep the important things safe.  Be vigilant. 

Leaks

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

Right now I am trying to re-memorize I Corinthians 13.  It is amazing how things that have been placed in secure storage “forsake” (leave NASB) (5800a) our memory.  I can sing commercials from my childhood but the things of value seem to leak out through the semipermeable membranes.  The reason this comes to mind is how this verse lifts out “mercy” (kindness NASB) (2617a) [chesed] which is the second trait listed about love.  To find “truth” (571) you need to look down a little further.

(1Co 13:6 KJV)  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

I would think that the definitions and references leak fast enough but the practices go even faster.

So?  Be reminded.  That is one reason we keep reading the same verses and why certain topics come up so often in the Bible.  Pray for the day that our behavior matches our knowledge. 

For Today

(Pro 2:7 KJV)  He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

If you compare translations you see a lot of different choices describing the individual that God is promising to protect.  All of them have the expectation that the one being protected is living a moral life based on the expectations of a holy God.  This is not the prosperity gospel.  It is not the predetermined outcomes of extreme Calvinism.  It is a simple statement that God will have our backs if we walk with Him.

He will have our backs and our fronts.  He will deal with our past and help us navigate through the future.  He will walk beside us today.

So?  Live in anticipation, not of a carefree life but one that is in God’s hands. 

Hey, Stupid

(Pro 1:11 KJV)  If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

I read something like this and I wonder, “Are people really that stupid?”  Can’t you just see this as click-bait on the internet.  No sane person would respond.  In answer to the question, yes, people can be that stupid.  I say that as I am thinking about a recent event in our town.  I am not sure that I have it all straight but that doesn’t present a problem with the thought.  The story was that a high school boy realized he arrived at school with his gun in the car with him.  A normal person would have stuck it under the seat or in the trunk, locked the car and gone about his day.  Not this clown.  He took it with him and was showing it around during lunch.  It put the school in a lockdown and brought police cars screaming from all directions.  From what I hear his main sin was an attack of stupid.

So?  Yes.  People you know may fall for stuff that seems obvious.  Be kind.  Help if you can.  Make sure your mind is engaged.