All of the Proverbs always present 2 choices: good, evil; rich, poor; righteousness, dishonesty; good wife, bad wife, etc. It would be my norm to point out 2 passages in this Proverb that mention a quarrelsome wife, but I am adamant to find other more valuable lessons in these texts. One of the most bothersome things I see as I read through the Proverbs is why it seems that evil people today still prosper. We read over and over that evil will come to destruction, evil will become destitute, evil gains are but a vapor, etc. Yet, when I look around, I see evil running amok, raping the world, the institutions, and the people. Our country is where it is today by evil people. I think that my tendency is to personalize good and evil. This person is good, this person is evil. I am beginning to think that maybe it is more universal than that. Are we condemned because we allow evil to run rampant in our own country?
21:3 To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
It has been very difficult for me to tithe/gift over the past year. Money has been really tight and I gave so much to our land purchase drive last year it put me in dire straights. This has been my focal verse. I am trying diligently to do what is right and just, I guess in my own weird way making up for what I am lacking when it comes to sacrifice/tithe. I will tell you, it is probably easier to tithe/gift your money! Now I know why the catholic church came up with indulgences. I will say that it is more enjoyable to give of your talent and time. Sacrifice without righteousness or justice is abominable to the Lord. God does not need our money or our resources. He is owner of all. What He needs is for us to show love to each other. Something we seem to find very hard to do.
21:17 He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.
21: 20 In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
Again, I see these verses reflecting on our country. Other countries are becoming rich because of our love of pleasure. We are importing 75% of all our goods and we are so far in debt that the only way we can get out is to walk away and not pay. I think that is what will eventually spark WWIII. Our "generosity" in giving aid to other countries has not gained us any favor either. We continually give to countries that will never repay, that are not grateful, and are completely unaccountable. Several chapters ago it was said that the spoils of the evil will be given to the wise. We would be fools not to see the handwriting on the wall and realize that our spoils have and are being given to other nations, more wise than we are. Are they more Godly, no, perhaps, who knows, but many of them are certainly devout. Most people realize that Muslims worship the same God, they just deify Muhammed instead of Jesus Christ. That is why it is so hard to bring a Muslim to the Christian faith. So now we have Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worshipping Yahweh, with Jesus Christ as the point of contention. Maybe this is an inside looking out observation but it seems that Jews and Muslims are much more devout than Christians. I know we have the "salvation" and "forgiven" clauses in our doctrine. Does that make take our faith for granted. Are we making a mockery of God?
Note: funny that oil was a commodity even in Old Testament times.
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1 comment:
Like this post. I was thinking about the oil and wine part. The leading astray was those that like to party all night. Burning the oil, drinking the wine. I guess in the old days you had your partiers who would burn the lamp and party it up.
AV
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