Loan officer helping two clients review and sign a loan agreement

Stay Out of Bad Deals

*Allow me to give you a quick peek behind the curtain. In my own studying through Proverbs, I’m already to chapter 11. We’ll get there eventually. I’ve written up post seeds through chapter 10. I write those when I study a particular passage long in advance of when I actually write a post to go live. That way, when it comes time to write the rest, I have a memory jog for where I had intended to go at the time. Well, I had intended for this post to go live this past Monday. But I had started working on it back at the beginning of July when I pivoted to summer reruns instead. As a result, it was buried in the middle of a long list of post seeds. When I didn’t see it, although I didn’t remember getting into chapter 6 before the break, I assumed I had and went on. I finally discovered the mix up yesterday. So, here it is a few days late. Enjoy!

“My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor or entered into an agreement with a stranger, you have been snared by the words of your mouth—trapped by the words from your mouth. Do this, then, my son, and free yourself, for you have put yourself in your neighbor’s power: Go, humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor. Don’t give sleep to your eyes or slumber to your eyelids. Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from a hunter’s trap.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

I am not a financial guru. I know a few basics, but when things start to get very detailed, my eyes glaze over and all of the information starts soaring right over my head. Fortunately, those basics are pretty sound so as to keep me out of trouble. Don’t spend more than you make. Invest and save judiciously. Put sacrificial generosity first. Don’t go into debt for anything except possibly a car or a house. As we get into Proverbs 6 today, we’ll find Solomon offering a potpourri of advice. His first stop is bad financial arrangements. Let’s take a look at what he has to say.

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An ant carrying a clump of soil on a dirt surface with a sunset in the background.

The Great Worth of Work

“Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise. Without leader, administrator, or ruler, it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest. How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest, and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.” (Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

If ants were larger, or capable of self-reflection we’d be in trouble. They greatly outnumber us. It’s not even close. And they’re really strong. And organized. They work really well as a unit. They would take over quickly if they could. It’s bad enough stepping on a fire ant hill! Thankfully, God designed them to be not much of a threat. But they do offer an object lesson, one that Solomon uses here to call us to the wisdom of hard work. Let’s take a look.

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Man writing notes at desk in home library surrounded by books

Summer Reruns: Being Different and Starting Fresh

This will be another short week of blogging as we are sneaking one last trip in this summer before hitting the ground running in August. We’ll get back to our journey through Proverbs then as well. Today is a little different from our other summer reruns because I’m including two posts today. The first is a sermon I posted on this day about four weeks after we started meeting together in person again after the initial Covid shutdowns. We worked through the story of the church in Acts those first few weeks. The second post I should have shared a couple of days ago on Saturday, but I don’t blog on Saturdays, so you get it today. This one was actually the first post I ever wrote. That’s right, Saturday was the ninth anniversary of my starting this blog. It was also my first official non-Sunday day on the job here at First Baptist Oakboro. The post looks pretty rudimentary compared to posts now, but again, it was the first one I had done. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. I didn’t have any idea I would still be writing nearly a decade later. Yet here we are. You never know what kind of a journey God will take you on. With almost 2400 posts and views from 217 different nations and territories under my belt, I can’t wait to see what comes next. Have a great start to your week!

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Family using telescope outside cabin at night under star-filled sky

Summer Reruns: Reflections on Camp

A couple of years ago, we made the intentional decision to make the month of June really busy at my church. Okay, so that wasn’t our primary goal. Rather, we sought to make the month of July really quiet by cancelling basically everything except a handful of necessary meetings and our normal Sunday morning activities. The goal was to create time for everyone to vacation and rest and recuperate from a busy year before we got another one started in August with the start of school. In order to do that, we have to schedule all of our camps and Vacation Bible School in June. So, June is really busy. But four years ago this week, I was at camp as a chaperone. It was the first time I had been in quite a while, and it was a blast. This morning let’s take a look back at some reflections on the week and the wonder of the world God has created us to enjoy.

Toddler sitting with arms crossed in timeout while parent watches with hand on forehead

Summer Reruns: When Happiness Isn’t Enough

In this post from 2020, a reflection on parenting proves to be an invitation to a broader reflection on God’s commitment to seeing us become more fully who He made us to be. The challenge here is that He made us to be perfect reflections of His holiness and righteousness. Perhaps you have noticed, but we are not a particularly holy or righteous people on our own. Getting us to that point takes some work on His part. It is work He is willing to do, but it is work that we are not likely to enjoy, especially if we are very committed to the sin currently standing in the way of our reaching that point. Our happiness isn’t God’s goal. Our holiness is. Let’s look back together today to see some of what this means for us.

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