at my church we are in a series called 'pursuit' which is about pursuing God's wisdom in different areas of your life. it's a study of the book of proverbs and the 1st thing you should understand is that proverbs are proverbs, some mistake them for promises or commands/guardrails. a proverb is 'a catchy description of the way things usually are' (i.e. 'happy is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gets understanding' prov. 3:13) this verse doesn't promise that finding wisdom makes you happy, but it provides insight as to what is LIKELY going to result from wisdom + understanding... get it?
proverbs also gives us a little insight into the 'good life', the cars, the house, the spouse, the children, the money, the material... right? you're catching on aren't you? here's an excerpt by solomon from ecclesiastes chapter 2:
"i did great things, built houses, planted vineyards, designed gardens and parks and planted a variety of fruit trees in them, made pools of water to irrigate the groves of trees. i bought slaves, male and female, who had children, giving me more slaves. then i acquired large herds and flocks, larger than anyone before me in jerusalem. I piled up silver and gold, loot from kings and kingdoms. i gathered a chorus of singers to entertain me with song, and most exquisite of all pleasures, voluptuous maidens for my bed, oh how i prospered! i left my predecessors in jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. what's more, i kept a clear head through it all. Everything i wanted, i took - i never said no to myself. i gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. i sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task, my reward to myself for a hard days' work! then i took a good look at everything i'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. but when i looked, i saw nothing but smoke. smoke and spitting into the wind. there was nothing to any of it. nothing."the 'good life' should consist of love, forgiveness, service, compassion... just living more like Christ [and i can attest to this.. that living more like Him, gives you so much peace... nothing else matters, not anything of this world].
So on to relationships: scripture shows that we, as humans have an innate NEED for connection with other humans. in Genesis 2:18, is the 1st time God says that there is something wrong with His creation... it states, 'it is not good for man to be alone'. there you have it... we NEED each other. so does it matter who we associate with? well, if you want real/authentic/true community with others, it does.
proverbs 12:26, 'the godly give good advice to their friends, the wicked lead them astray'."wisdom is not only acquiring the knowledge, but applying it too!"
so how do i be someone who is wise, seeking/giving/receiving 'good advice'?
- speak and receive the truth (prov. 10:17, 12:15, 15:31)
- pursue and nurture wise relationships (prov. 18:1)
- extend and expect grace (prov. 19:11, 17:17)
at sean's church, the message was an excerpt from the sermon on the mount. it was about living life worry free. the passage was taken from matthew 6:25-34 and the points made were:
don't worry about where your next meal is coming from - there ARE parts of this world where the better of the population has this worry... everyday. but the 'meat' (no pun intended) of this part of scripture is the reality that the bread OF life is better than the bread FOR life.
don't worry about what you are going to wear - more of the issue of being clothed rather than the whole standing in front of a mirror for a half hour deciding which outfit looks cutest on you. these are material items.. meaning NOTHING. there's no material things that hold any weight in heaven. all of these will stay on earth to rot away, be consumed by moths and stolen by men.
don't worry about how long you will live - this just has anxiety written all over it! how would you live day to day with this worry? life here on earth is entirely too short to worry about this AND it's so draining to think about. God decides this, so let Him take this worry.
"worry doesn't empty tomorrow of it's sorrow, it empties today of it's strength"
Just dwell on this: 'the person who fears God, has NOTHING else to fear'.
There you have it!!
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