Tag: Christian living

Senior women learning computer skills during a digital literacy workshop

In Which Direction Are You Heading?

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“The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish. The way of the Lord is a stronghold for the honorable, but destruction awaits evildoers. The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not remain on the earth. The mouth of the righteous produces wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is appropriate, but the mouth of the wicked, only what is perverse.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭28‬-‭32‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Jesus once described the person who heard His teaching and put it into practice to be like a wise person who built a house securely on a good foundation. When the storms of life arose and brought all their chaos to that person’s life, they were not moved because they had a secure foundation. As well versed in the Scriptures as Jesus was, I suspect He had the proverb in the middle of this last set from chapter 10 in mind. Let’s see what else Solomon has to say here about wise living.

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Three adults discuss community matters beside a “Community Event” sign and “OUR VOICE” mug.

Getting Our Priorities Straight

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“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’ Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?” (Matthew 23:16-17 CSB – Read the chapter)

I have been working through the Gospel of Matthew with my church on Wednesday nights for nearly three years now. We’ve taken a break here or there along the way, but mostly it has just been Matthew for a while now. And I’ve got to say: it has been good. I know that I’ve never taken such a deep dive into a single book from the Scriptures, and I’m sure none of them have either. Taking time to meditate so long and so deeply on a single, Spirit-inspired author’s work has yielded much in terms of applicational rewards for us. We are currently in chapter 23 where Jesus blows up the scribes and Pharisees for their religious hypocrisy and bad spiritual leadership. It is one of those chapters that’s easy to ignore because at first glance Jesus is just berating His enemies for religious practices and traditions that are long gone. But a bit closer of a look uncovers volumes of uncomfortably relevant critiques for modern church members to consider. Let’s take a look at one of them together today.

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Artisan shaping a heart model beside a sign reading Project: The Unbreakable Heart

The Worth of Doing Good and Godly Work

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“The Lord’s blessing enriches, and he adds no painful effort to it. As shameful conduct is pleasure for a fool, so wisdom is for a person of understanding. What the wicked dreads will come to him, but what the righteous desire will be given to them. When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever. Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so the slacker is to the one who sends him on an errand. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭22‬-‭27‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

When the first man and his wife ate fruit from the tree God told them not to eat from, thus introducing sin into the world, God took some time after their disobedience was revealed to tell them about exactly what they had unleashed on themselves. One of the things He said specifically to the man was that sin was going to bring futility to his work. He would spend his life working the ground by painful effort. What was once a purely joyful activity was going to become hard for the sake of being hard. Now, anytime work is experienced as the joyful effort God created it to be is a blessing. Solomon reminds us of that here at the beginning of this next batch of proverbs. Let’s talk about that and some others today.

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An open, ancient Bible resting on a weathered wooden surface, bathed in warm, directional light streaming through a window. The light illuminates the pages with a sense of truth and clarity. The mood is contemplative and honest — neither overly dramatic nor soft. Subtle dust particles float in the beam of light. The image conveys candor, trustworthiness, and the weight of timeless words. Photorealistic style.

Telling It Like It Is

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“The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses. Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of the one who lacks sense. The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool hastens destruction. The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; the poverty of the poor is their destruction.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭11‬-‭15‬ ‭CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things we expect from the Scriptures, is for them to tell us how the world should be. The world isn’t that, and they give us guidance on how to get from here to there. Of course, there are plenty of passages that tell us how and why we are wrong. We naturally expect to find those there as well. And, all of this, of course, falls under the heading of judgment. One of the things we don’t expect to find in the Scriptures, though, our verses that simply tell us without judgment how the world is. While there are many proverbs that point us toward bringing our lives more in line with God’s righteousness, there are a few that simply describe the world as it currently exists. We find one of those in this next group of proverbs. Let’s take a look together.

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Hiker choosing between trails marked “EASY PATH” and “HARDER PATH”

A Choice of Two Paths

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“Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The remembrance of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. A wise heart accepts commands, but foolish lips will be destroyed. The one who lives with integrity lives securely, but whoever perverts his ways will be found out. A sly wink of the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will be destroyed.”(Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭6‬-‭10‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

While the world loves to paint with shades of gray, in the final analysis, there will be two kinds of people in this world: the righteous and the wicked. Proverbs not only offers counsel for how to be one instead of the other, it furnishes numerous examples of the outcomes one will experience or cause to be experienced versus the other. Now, the Gospel helps us paint with more nuance than the Old Testament sometimes does, but still, learning to recognize the path that will lead to one end and the path that will lead to the other is worthwhile. Let’s take a look at some pointers in this passage.

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