Proverbs 12-13 - Cautious in Friendship

The other day I was speaking with someone going away to college for the first time. We were talking about the different issues that he might face. If I could give two pieces of advice to a Christian heading to college for the first time, it would be this:

1. Find a good local church and get involved
2. Be careful who you make friends with

From seeing many people head off to college thru the years, it has been my observation that those who follow these two guidelines are the ones whose faith stays strong thru school. Those that flounder ususally skip one or both of these.

In Proverbs, I read some verses that speak to item #2. Proverbs 12:26 says A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Cautious in friendship is a great way to remember this. And then in the next chapter, verse 20 says He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

I would challenge you as the new school year begins, to keep this in mind as you meet people. Certainly be friendly, but don't open up the deep parts of your life to someone who could ultimately hurt you or lead you astray.

Proverbs 8 - Be on the lookout for Wisdom

I've been "offline" for the weekend, but as I said in the challenge - if you miss a day, just keep on going. Actually, I read this yesterday, but am posting it this morning.

Proverbs 8, verses 34-36:

Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.

For whoever finds me finds life
and receives favor from the LORD.

But whoever fails to find me harms himself;
all who hate me love death."

It's confusing when we hear wisdom talking in the voice of a person, but that is just what is happening here. Did you ever really miss someone who was away for a while? That is the image that I see when I read "watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway." You know they are not yet scheduled to come home, but yet you secretly long for them to be back, and you look in familiar places hoping there will be there.

Today with all the craziness going on in the world, it seems like wisdom and common sense is taking a vacation. It seems like more and more people are failing to find wisdom and are harming themselves and those around them, just like the verse says. We need to be on the lookout for God's wisdom, and pour it into our lives daily. We need to wait expectantly to welcome it, and pray for it to return to our world. When we find wisdom, we find favor from the Lord!

I'm enjoying the August challenge and the blessing of receiving my daily dose of God's wisdom thru His Word. Keep on diggin' in! And please add your comments to the blog.

Proverbs 5 - God Ponders our ways?

Well, this chapter is mostly about avoiding the snare of adultery. I suppose most college students would say "well, I'm not married" and just tune this out. However, as we've seen with other passages that seem to be written to someone else, there is still significant application here.

I've found that people who live a certain way before marriage essentially live the same way after marriage. In other words, if you've established certain habits and ways and attitudes now that are healthy, you'll probably continue them and have a healthy marriage. Conversely, bad ways don't magically change once you walk up the aisle to the altar and marry.

I remember when I was dating (before I was married, of course!) I settled into an understanding. I would never date someone who I couldn't imagine being married to, and once in a dating relationship if it seemed that I couldn't be married to them, it was time to cut things off. In fact, the way I hinted to Ann that engagement was nearing, I said "I think if things keep going the way they are going, a ring might be in the near future!" She told me that was the best thing I could have said to her right then and there!

So, the short of it is: develop good attitudes and life choices now, and with God's grace, they will carry over into your future marriage.

Now, one verse that sticks out is verse 21: "For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He ponders all his paths." Did you ever think that God actually takes time to ponder our ways? That just amazes me. Here is the infinite, all-powerful, almighty God considering what I'm doing. All I can do when I think of this is to praise Him and be sure that I'm living in such a way that's obedient to his Word and pleasing to Him.

What do you think?

Proverbs 4 - Guard your heart

I really like what verse 23 says "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I remember going on bicycle rides over to Oyster Bay on hot summer days. There were some big hills on the way and you would sure work up a sweat getting over them. Near the end of our ride, by the side of the road was a fresh water spring that was brought up to a small fountain. People would come from all over just to fill some bottles with this ice code water. Boy did it taste great and you sure felt refreshed after gulping down a few mouthfuls of it!

The verse says the our heart is the wellspring of life. A pure heart is refreshing and gives us the drive to go on further. We need to guard our heart to keep it from becoming polluted. I remember another time cycling in Connecticuit and stopping by another spring. However, this one had sulfer water coming out of it. (The smell should have been a clue that something was wrong with this water...) Well, just one small sip of this and YUCK... Spit it out and look for something to change the bad taste in my mouth. This water was terrible and repulsive. Thats what can happen if we don't guard our hearts - it can become polluted with bitterness, resentment, anger and sin. And just like that terrible water, it's not good for much.

Only Jesus can purify our hearts. We can keep watch over what we allow to enter in, but we need the full cleansing from Him to make our hearts clean.

So, ask Jesus to clean your heart, to purify us from all unrighteousness, and then watch what we allow in. A guard will stop someone from entering a bank if they look suspicious. We are told to protect our heart in the same way.

Well, that's my take on one verse in Proverbs 4. Please comment on what you got out of this chapter.

Proverbs 3

What a great promise in the first few verses. If we keep God's commands in our heart, he promises us a long life and prosperity. How long is not said, and the prosperity talked about here is not the cheesy "name-it-and-claim-it lay your hand on the TV set and send me $100" kind.

No, God's economy is so different from ours. His lasts for all eternity and is ultimately concerned with things that also last - like the souls of men and women. Wouldn't it be great to be prosperous in the true Godly way?

Well, there's so much more in this chapter - I hope you will add your comments on what you found in it!

A Proverb A Day

Last night at College-n-beyond I possed a challenge: Read a chapter of Proverbs each day thru the month of August. You see, this is one of the best ways to gain wisdom and prepare for what lies ahead in September.

Here's how to do it:

Read the chapter corresponding to the day of the month. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and August 31 days, so there you go.

If you miss a day, don't get hung up. You can skip those chapters and swing back around next month if you want. Don't try to catch up - it's better to read less and understand it, that to cram in and not get anything out of it.

Underline in your Bible and write notes and thoughts in the margin. What a great thing to come back later on and see what God spoke to you.

Lastly, begin with prayer - ask God to show you just what you need.

Feel free to post things to this Blog about what you've found. I will try to do the same as often as I can.