Chapters for today: Proverbs 24 and
Psalm 54 (this is a later one than the others and a little different
format)
Memory Word: “Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stands in the way
of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the
law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is
like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in
season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. –
Psalm 1:1-3
Good morning son,
Over the last couple of days I have
been a little under the weather and indisposed. But that is just a
part of the truth, that makes me sound upright and doing all that I
am supposed to be doing. It saves face for me. The truth of the
matter is that even though I was under the weather a little I could
still have taken the time to write these to you. I just didn't. It
became a little less of a priority in the midst of life. Partly
because, I did not want to be charged to walk fully responsible
before the Lord.
Ouch! That hurt! It came out so easy
but hurt so deeply.
See truth be told there are times that
you will not want to do the responsible thing. You will have all the
time that you need to accomplish something but you just won't want to
do it. Indeed I have a lot to do today, and very little excuses for
not doing what I need to do. So the truth of the matter, . . . I
would prefer to simply spend the whole day doing pretty much nothing.
The truth . . .
Proverbs 24:26 “An honest answer is
like a kiss on the lips.”
I like to be kissed. Don't you? So it
would seem that giving an honest answer is always welcomed and the
experience always pleasant. But is it really? Is it a pleasant
thing to admit to one's self that they just wanted to be lazy? That
they just want to curl up and wait for life to take its course? So
if I admit that, do I escape having to take heed to the warning at
the end of this day's chapter:
“I went past the field of the
sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with
weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. . . .” Proverbs
24:30-31
Okay if I admit to myself, if I
honestly answer myself I find myself seeing me as a
sluggard – as a man who lacks judgment! If
I lack judgment I am no better than a fool! I can not be surprised
when I see the fruits of a fool in my life. Indeed the writer goes
on to note that I will have such fruits, thorns and weeds!
Have you ever had
to work a field full of thorns? I have and it sucks royally! Not
only do you have to do the work in the filed but you are getting
stuck and pricked throughout the work. The work does not come easy
and it literally hurts to do it. Then you have to deal with the
weeds! If you know anything about weeds, you have to pull them up
from their roots to get rid of them, you can not just cut them at the
top. To pull the weeds you must grasp them strong and tight! And
remember, on top of these weeds, all mixed in them, are the thorns.
SO as you grab hold of the weeds to pull them out, you are being cut,
stabbed and bleeding.
The
sluggard, the one who lacks judgment is not willing to do the work,
the painful work, necessary to pull out all the junk that is keeping
himself from succeeding. It hurts to have to admit to, and deal with
my own foolishness. To admit that I self inflict the sin of gluttony
daily in my life, eating that which I am not supposed to, in amounts
that are greater than being good for anyone, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY to
deal with it – to avoid the cakes and cookies, the heaping bowls of
pasta, and the 3 or 4 PBJ sandwiches at one sitting . . . well I
feel the pains of the thorns – the stomach growl and the mind that
says you deserve it, “eat drink and be merry for . . . “OH I
won't finish that out loud, but read this in a whisper
. . . “for this day may be your last”. See the sluggard lacks
judgment, he only sees today, the avoidance of the pain for today,
the avoidance of the work for today. “Today may be your last . . .
“
I am
50 years, 9 months, and 24 days old as of the writing of this GW.
That means my eyes have more or less seen the dawning of [(the
number of years of birthdays x 365) + (number of months since last
birthday x 31) plus the number of days of this month]
OR [(50 x 365) + (9 x 31) + 24)] OR [18,250 + 279 + 24] OR 18,553
days! The chances of the fact
that I may not live to see another sunrise is pretty slim. Most
likely I will wake up tomorrow. And chances are you will too. So
why should I live like I will not pay the consequences of the
foolishness of today? It seems
like I will have to be dealing with the crops from this field, my
life, for a whole lot longer than just today. It seems like it would
be wise for me to deal with those thorns and weeds that I see in my
life, that God has revealed, that I already know . . . you know . . .
that sin that so
easily trips me up! That one! You know the one! Okay, okay!! the .
. . ah . . . 5 or 10! LOL.
I do not know of
anyone who likes to be defenseless, and yet the writer lets us know
that that too will be our state for “the stone wall was in ruins.”
See it is not just necessary to pull up the weeds and get rid of the
thorns we must also build up the walls.
Lately we have
been receiving a men's magazine that we did NOT order. It is a
magazine for “mature adult men.” Men who are supposedly “secure”
in their understanding of sex (perverted in reality). At my request,
when it comes in Momma P handles it. She tears it up, and shreds it,
making sure all pieces get into the trash. I can honestly say I have
not seen the inside of it at all. Indeed, most often, I do not even
see the cover, for Momma P collects the mail and makes sure it never
appears in the pile of mail. Why?
It is
not enough for me to deal with the sexual temptations I may come
across, or those battles in my mind, you know, the weeds and thorns
which may grow up, but I must also build up the wall to protect my
field. This is part of my wall. Each of us must build walls to
prevent our enemies, our own lust and desire from destroying our
fields. And I am not just talking about sex. There are many other
areas also. . . . remember . . . “that sin”
which so easily trips us up.
The writer goes on
to say:
“I applied my
heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A
little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest
– and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an
armed man.” Proverbs 24:32-34
In my life I want
to have abundance of all the things which constitute life. I want to
win my battles, and receive the rewards of my labor. I do not want
to be a sitting duck for those who would cause me harm or those who
would cause harm to His message. I want to be rich in all that He
would have me to be rich in. IF the Lord is my Shepherd, I am
assured that I will have no lack. And as He IS my shepherd I do not
have any lack. I can however, destroy the field and the fruit that
He has blessed me with by being like the sluggard and like the one
who lacks judgment, the fool. And the proper tending of the field,
the proper working on my life all begins with an honest answer, an
honest examination of our lives.
Proverbs 24:26 “An
honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.”
The kiss may be
painful. It may indeed bite a little. But son, what awesome fruit
comes from such a kiss! What an awesome life! What blessing and joy
comes from such a kiss!
Give yourself one
today. Speak the truth to yourself.
Love yah,
dad
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