Woman writing notes beside open books at a home study table

Wisdom for the Road

“Solomon’s proverbs: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son, heartache to his mother. Ill-gotten gains do not profit anyone, but righteousness rescues from death. The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry, but he denies the wicked what they crave. Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches. The son who gathers during summer is prudent; the son who sleeps during harvest is disgraceful.” (Proverbs‬ ‭10‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭CSB‬‬ – Read the chapter)

Today we start a new section in our journey through Proverbs. We have made it through the lengthy opening section featuring Solomon offering wise counsel to his children. That section flowed fairly smoothly and there was a significant amount of continuity from one verse to the next. This next section has us entering the rhetorical territory we typically associate with Proverbs. For the next few weeks, we are going to be working our way through individual proverbs. Rather than taking one proverb at a time each day, though, which might take us the next couple of years, we’ll take a look at them in blocks. Some will invite longer reflection than others, but all of them invite us to consider what it looks like to live in the righteousness of God. Let’s get started.

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Morning Musing: Jonah 3:3b-4

“Now Nineveh was an extremely great city, a three-day walk. Jonah set out on the first day of his walk in the city and proclaimed, ‘In forty days Nineveh will be demolished!’”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

If you google “not my job memes,” you will find some pretty funny images. Most of them are pictures of road striping work where the stripes go right over something in the path that could have been easily moved out of the way. It wasn’t the striper’s job to do it, so he didn’t. My favorite is a picture of a python that has wrapped itself around a terrified-looking young boy’s leg with the National Geographic logo in one corner and in the other corner you can see a National Geographic cameraman crouched and actively taking a picture of the scene rather than helping. Of course, the guy taking a picture of the guy taking the picture wasn’t helping either, so… In any event, what Jonah does here is worthy of a “Not My Job” award. Let’s talk about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 6:25

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Jesus tells us not to worry and instead to trust in Him.  He presents worrying about even basic life necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing as a sinful mistrust in the Lord.  I remember still the first time I read these words and truly understood them.  They had a profound impact on me.  With only a few exceptions, I have largely purged worry from my own life because of them.  Sometimes, though, I have let this intention to not worry drift too far in the other direction which is laziness.  This prompts and interesting (at least to me!) question in my mind: What does it look like to live free from worry in such a way that honors Christ? Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 20:4

“The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.”  (ESV)

One of the principles that comes out over and over again in the proverbs is the importance of working hard.  Being lazy and relying on others to work for you is not the way to life.

While many today have internalized the mantra that they are “working for the weekend,” and that the real goal of life is to be able to relax and pursue a life of ease (often in retirement), the Scriptures proclaim a different approach.   Read the rest…