Who can find such a woman?

 Read Proverbs 31

The Proverbs have presented us with 3 metaphorical women.  There is, of course, Lady Wisdom.  She is to be desired the most. 

We also have the adulterous woman and the woman known as Folly.  The counsel that accompanies these 2 is to steer clear.  This pair is responsible for many of the mines in the minefield.

Lady Wisdom leads to good life and prosperity.  The other two lead to your demise and destruction.  Solomon used the metaphors of these women to help define God’s way and the everything else.

There is God’s way and there is everything else, and let’s not forget that God’s way is love.

Let’s not forget that he who lives in God’s way is blessed.  God has revealed his way to us for our own good.  Nothing here should sound new to you.  This is what you have been hearing time and again. You know these things.

God’s way and everything else.

God’s way is given for our own good.

God’s way is love.

God’s way blesses us.

God’s way is the only way available for the man who wants to please God and enjoy him very much.

Of the 3 women that we have met so far, 2 are warnings about the everything else.  It’s time to meet another woman as we seek to live God’s way.

This woman is not metaphorical.  She is an aspiration.  She is the epitome of a godly woman. Who is she? She is described as:

A wife of noble character.

A virtuous woman.

An excellent wife.

Why is this woman an aspiration?  Consider how she is introduced.  Who can find such a woman—a woman who is noble, virtuous, and excellent?

This is the woman who sets the bar high for all women.  Some women are not interested in such aspirations for these lofty goals lie only in God’s way.

What exactly are we talking about in such a woman?

Her value is more than fine jewelry. Her husband has full confidence in her. This woman brings her husband good and never harm.

She has as much business sense and acumen as any merchant.  She is industrious, up early and taking care of business on the home front before venturing into the world of commerce.

She does a cost-benefit analysis on a piece of property and buys it if it could be profitable.  Then she makes it profitable. She funds the whole endeavor herself.

She invests money to make money. She is not only an adept businessperson; she knows how to sew and weave. She hones her domestic skill set.

OBTW—she is not stingy.  She is generous and helps the poor.

She is not afraid of bad weather.  She has made clothing for her family, warm bedding, and provisioned the household.

Now we get a little figurative language. What does this most desirable woman wear?  Yes, she wears fine linen and purple—a color that often denotes royalty, but there is more to her wardrobe.  She is clothed with strength and dignity.

Now consider these additional qualities.

She speaks with wisdom.  Only instruction faithful to the Lord and her husband will depart from her lips. Her household is in order.

Here is one of my favorites.  She is on a strict diet. What? She does not eat the bread of idleness.

Either she or her parents made a good choice once upon a time for her husband not only appreciates her and acknowledges her value, he is respected within the community.  He takes his seat among the elders.

She is part of a family that is blessed.  The husband knows it.  The children know it.  She knows it but it doesn’t go to her head.  She cherishes these things in her heart.

But what about her physical attributes?  C’mon this is the twenty-first century.  How does she look in a bikini or a cocktail dress?  Does she need to use filters on her Facebook posts? What does this girl look like?

Remember the target audience for wisdom is not the world that lives in the everything else.  Wisdom speaks to those who seek her and not the other 2 gals who live in the everything else. 

Wisdom speaks to those seeking a woman attired in strength and dignity. What’s that got to do with how this proverbs 31 woman looks?

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

What is the quality that brings success to this woman?  She fears the Lord.  The fear of the Lord leads to knowledge, wisdom, instruction, and discipline. 

Do you remember Secret deodorant?  It’s strong enough for a man but made for a woman.

This Proverbs 31 woman can compete in a man’s world where she sees fit and make a warm and loving home for her family.

She is loved and blessed in her home.  Not only does her family appreciate and acknowledge her, but she is respected in the community.

Wow!  From the man’s perspective, the term is what a catch! How does a man come by such a woman?

He must be the man who lives in God’s way, fears the Lord, seeks God’s kingdom and his righteousness, and is known by his love.

From the woman’s perspective, these things are essential to becoming such a woman.

Fear the Lord.  This is the beginning of knowledge, wisdom, instruction, and discipline.

Be industrious.  Do you remember all of the warnings given in the Proverbs about laziness or slothfulness or just general apathy towards putting your abilities to work?

Those were not just there for the guys.

Here is one not listed but essential, especially to the modern woman.  Be patient.  Patience is required because you might just have to wait a while for a godly man to cross your path.

The virtuous wife had a virtuous husband. In the days when these pieces of counsel were authored that process probably involved the parents of both husband and bride reaching agreement.  Today is different.  While we hope that the extended family is involved in helping children select lifelong partners; too often it’s a decision made by young people with limited life experience and varying walks of faith.

Today the marriage process is sometimes purely emotional.

The virtuous woman must be patient.  She must be willing to wait as long as it takes for a Christian man to come along.

Here is another not specifically listed but obvious from the attributes of this woman.  You must put what God gave you to work.  God has blessed you with gifts and talents that he wants us to use to produce good fruit for the kingdom of God and the body of Christ.

Combined this with being industrious, and you will grow into your clothing—strength and dignity.

While the Proverbs seem to have been written mostly to men, and many were, we can see that women also benefit from living in God’s way. The Proverbs 31 woman sets the bar high for ladies who desire to bring glory to God.

For the men, the Proverbs 31 woman should be so much more desirable than the playmate of the month, especially for those living in God’s way.

There is God’s way and there is everything else. God’s way is love.  Living in God’s way blessed both men and women and the families that come out of godly people being united in marriage.

This brings us to the end of the Proverbs.  We will do a review next week and everyone is asked to read Ephesians 5:15-16 and pick out a dozen quips of wisdom that stuck with you during this study.

Amen.

Listen to My Mom

 Read Proverbs 31

This proverb is different in that these are considered the sayings of King Lemuel, but he learned them from his mother. Lemuel gives them to us in much the way he received them; hence the comment, son of my womb.

What’s the counsel?

Watch out for women and drinking too much alcohol.  That’s pretty much it, at least for one who would be king.

Rulers make bad lovers

You better put your kingdom up for sale, up for sale

And you thought that I was limited to country song lyrics and never expected Fleetwood Mac to make it into a sermon.  Some of you have been culturally deprived as you never heard God Dust Woman.

Stevie Nicks gives us the proposition in reverse to what Lemuel’s mom said, but you get the point. You can run your kingdom or you can chase after women, but you can’t do both well. Stevie says give up your kingdom.  Lemuel’s mom says give up the women.

If your aspirations in life are just to get your daily pay and forget about your life, have a few beers to help you forget that you are just punching the clock.

But for the one who wants to take what God gave him and put it to use and produce a return, don’t get distracted by these two big distractions—booze and women.

Some just want to drink their lives away for they do not understand their purpose.  For them, life is not so much a gift as it is the daily grind.  Mom’s advice is don’t let your life become a daily grind.  Don’t desire to forget about your life because it is nothing but misery.

You have purpose in your life.  Part of that purpose is to bless those who are not so well off.  Specifically:

Speak up for those who have no voice.

Stand up for those who are at the very bottom and can’t do anything about their situation.

Judge fairly and be attuned to those who have no advocate.

Defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Live God’s way and stay out of the everything else.  Who gets sucked into the everything else?

Those who don’t understand that God’s way is not only best for them but it also contains purpose for their lives.

But these pieces of counsel are for a man who would grow up to be king.  I’m likely not getting that job any time soon.

But you are charged to bring up your children in the way they should go.  You may be entrusted with a classroom full of children.

You may have only 1 or 2 other people under your charge, but they will see your purpose in everything you do.

You may have a company that sees you live out your purpose.

You may have neither children nor employees but just work a register.  People will see whether you are living with purpose or just waiting for quitting time so you can head to the bar until closing time.

If you know that God has given you purpose in your life, be on the lookout for traps set along the way.  Mom says that booze and wayward women are at the top of the list.

Know your purpose and your goals.  Press on towards the goal.  Stay the course. 

Consider the perspective of the Apostle Paul.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

 You have God-given purpose in your life.  That should get you up in the morning, but beware there are landmines out there.  They might not be booze or wild women, but anything that takes you away from the purpose that God gave you should be treated like a landmine.

Stick to God’s way.  His way is love.  His way contains your purpose.  His way is given to you for your own good.  Living in God’s way brings us blessing.

King Lemuel’s message is to listen to mom.

Amen.

Living by Daily Bread

 Read Proverbs 30

If you were faithful in your daily reading, you might have had some questions about people and terms.  You might have done your own research.  You might have waited until now thinking I did my reading, Tom can tell me what all this new stuff is.

Agur son of Jakeh is not really addressed anywhere else. He may be included in the men of Hezekiah (Proverbs 25:1).

Ithiel is mentioned in  Nehemiah 11:7.  What does that tell us?  This is the time of the return from Babylon and Ithiel lived in Jerusalem.

Ucal means I am strong, but we have no other reference as to who he was or what he did.

The next chapter brings us to King Lemuel, also with no other reference, and some suspect a pseudonym for Solomon, perhaps so he could use another voice.

What do we glean from this? Some of these proverbs postdate Solomon by a few centuries.

We also come upon terms that we just don’t’ use these days. Hyraxes is one.  Some might call it a Shrewmouse. I’m sure that helped a lot.  It’s a plant-eating (using molars, not incisors) mammal that acts like it’s cold-blooded as it regulates its own body temperature poorly compared to other warm-blooded creatures.  It is not a ruminant but has a divided stomach, hence references in Deuteronomy to chewing its cud.

Here is Tom’s composite.  A cross between a rabbit and a badger that huddles together like a bunch of snakes for warmth while chewing its cud.

The He Goat is easier to figure out.  It’s a male goat given to head butting.  And no, my picture does not accompany the definition in the dictionary, yet. There is some interesting stuff in this chapter, so let’s get to it.

We won’t cover it all, but we will take a slice from verses 7-9.

We are blessed to live as we do.  Some have more than others, but we all seem to have enough.  We know many who don’t have enough.  Often, we help them.  Some are near and some are far away.

We are blessed to be able to help.

Have you ever wished that you would win the lottery?  If you won it this week, you would barely have a million dollars or so a year after tithe and taxes.  Is it even worth it?  Who could get by on that?

Most of you might be thinking, “I would give it a try.”

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you were out of work and homeless?  What if you had a family?  Would you steal to provide for them? Would you steal to keep from starving?

You might think, “I hope not.”  In reality, we might also think, “If it came to them starving, I’m not sure what I would do.”

Have you ever stopped to think about how blessed we are to have our daily needs met without venturing too far to either extreme?

We have enough to provide shelter for our family.  In today’s world that comes with running water, indoor plumbing, heat, and often air conditioning, not to mention the things we take for granted such as flipping a switch and we see darkness turn to light.

We have enough to make our tithe—ten percent of what we receive in the course of working, social security, investments, and the like.

We have enough to give our kids a few bucks for Martha and when the time comes for a goat and two chickens.

Some have enough for our local help—local benevolence—ministry.

Some have something left to support the children’s home, which is now officially titled Cumberland Youth and Family Services.

Some have something left to support the Western Oklahoma Family Care Center or the Hope Center that help people pay bills and bring their children to term and deliver new life into the world.

Some of you give to the shoe ministry that we have been a part of in year’s past.  Some give to St. Jude’s, the American Cancer Society, or even the Ronald McDonald House.

And of course, we always have something for the church, school, FFA, or sport of the month fundraiser.

It seems that we have been blessed with enough to meet our needs and bless others.  Understand how great a blessing that is.

But if I was rich, I could do so much more than I can now.  I’m talking good stuff, not selfish stuff.  That is correct.  If you are a good steward of what God has blessed you with now, you can be a good steward of whatever else he sends your way, but understand this.  Increased blessings require increased focus and stewardship.

To be master over your money requires more attention and effort as money increases. 

Yeah, ok, I guess, what?  Why?

On any given day, you could assess your situation and say, “I’m good.  I’ve got enough.  Why do I even need God?”

The words eat, drink, and be merry might come to mind.  Do you know where these words come from? Try the parable of the bigger barns.

What is the counsel of this parable? Jesus said: “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

I have posed the challenge this way.  Are we rich towards God? What does the proverb say?

Two things I ask of you, Lord;

    do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me;

    give me neither poverty nor riches,

    but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you

    and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’

Or I may become poor and steal,

    and so dishonor the name of my God.

We will not say much about keeping falsehood away.  That one is straightforward.  Don’t make me have to contend with falsehood every day.  That could read, “Don’t make me live in the twenty-first century,’ but there has always been an abundance of falsehood in the world.

We are focusing on living between poverty and riches in the abundance of daily bread.  What did Jesus say when he modeled prayer for us?  Father gives us what we need just for today.

What is the only day that we can live?  It’s today.

We have talked before that there is nothing wrong with money, so long as you are master over your money.  The proverb tells us that a lot of money—riches if you will—would require an extraordinary effort on our part to remain master over our money.

Just as debt reverses the relationship with money, so too can riches.  We must be on guard all of the time. Some may be equipped to stay the course of living a godly life upon receipt of some windfall.  Most might be tempted to eat, drink, and be merry.

Our message is to understand the blessing of daily bread—of having our needs met, which includes the need to bless others.

It’s a little easier to understand not wanting to live in poverty.  We don’t want to be faced with the decision as whether we would steal or starve.  Most here know that God’s people would help us if we were in dire straits, except that pride—selfish and foolish pride—kicks in and sometimes persuades us not to ask for help.

For us in this day and this time, we should pray for eyes to see the blessings of living by daily bread.

Having our daily needs met does not mean that we do not know struggle and sacrifice.  It means that those challenges do not result in being destitute.  We make sacrifices.  We brown bag it for six months to save up the down payment for a car.

We eat out less, so we can send a kid to college.  We sell something we own to help someone just make it through the month.  We know sacrifice and trials but we do not know poverty.

Our needs are met and those needs include helping others.

We probably think that we could win the lottery and bring glory to God every day.  Perhaps you can.  It would take a special effort. It would take the readiness of the first two servants in the Parable of the Talents. Most people struggle to get ready for the day.  Getting ready to bring glory to God every day following a windfall is usually something beyond our grasp.

We probably think if we hit rock bottom, we would not steal to get by.  Maybe we wouldn’t. Maybe we couldn’t bear to watch our families go without.

We should expect God to continue to bless us as we seek him and his kingdom and his righteousness; and we should expect to be called to practice God’s wisdom so we do not end up destitute.

Most of all, we should have eyes to see the blessings of living by daily bread.

Our needs are met.

We have enough to bless others.

We can leave an inheritance to our children’s children.

We don’t do debt and are not a slave to the lender.

Wisdom is not talking about mediocrity. It is talking about the fulness of life. We can only live this day but we can live it to the full being known as disciples of Christ Jesus by our love. We can live fully in our daily provisions.

As you go from this place, consider the blessings of living by daily bread.

Amen.

Every Word of God is Flawless

 Read Proverbs 30

Think back to when your read Job.  Job wanted an audience with God.  If he could only present his case to God, God would see things his way.

The conversation did not go as Job expected.  God asked Job—rhetorically-where he was when the earth was created.  Who was it that told the oceans that could go this far and no farther? 

Job saw what he had gotten himself into, but it was too late.  God told him it was his turn to listen.

Now consider the first part of Proverbs 30.  It’s much like a lessons learned set of prose from Job.

The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance.  I will talk a little about some people you probably don’t know too well in the next service.

This man’s utterance to Ithiel:

I am weary, God,

    but I can prevail.

Surely I am only a brute, not a man;

    I do not have human understanding.

I have not learned wisdom,

    nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.

Who has gone up to heaven and come down?

    Whose hands have gathered up the wind?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?

    Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is the name of his son?

    Surely you know!

Every word of God is flawless;

    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words,

    or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

It is a proverb—or in this case a set of prose that gives us perspective.  Sometimes we are full of ourselves and upset at the way life is going.  Sometimes we don’t have a clue what God is doing, but we are not happy with it.  Sometimes, we want God to bring us in as a universal consultant.

The proverb here notes that we should take a breath and assess the situation.  We have degrees and experience and a sense that we know what to do in most circumstances.  We think that our own understanding is sufficient for navigating this world, but wisdom says, “Just hold on.”

In the grand scheme of things, your wisdom can’t hold a candle to God’s wisdom.

You have never been to heaven.  Now for you old-timers, you might sing, but I’ve been to Oklahoma. Oh they tell me I was born there, but…

You can’t hold the wind in your hands.

You don’t control the waters.

You did not define the ends of the earth.

You don’t know God well enough to be second-guessing him.  If you knew him well, you would embrace his word and never let go of it. You would let him direct your steps and do it with enthusiasm.

Every word of God is flawless;

    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Just do it God’s way.  Here’s one for you.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.

Try this one on for size as well.  Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

We should make that one of our memory verses.  The proverb is a provocation to this interrogative. 

Who am I to question God’s ways?

This is not us asking who am I?  I am God’s masterpiece. I am designed to bring glory to God and enjoy the relationship with him.

 It asks who am I to question the Artist that made the masterpiece.

Now back to the beginning.

I am weary, God,

    but I can prevail.

This is not a proverb promoting stoicism.

Life has its struggles, challenges, and trials, but I can make it.  Lord, I can handle everything that you say I can handle.  I will not say, “That’s just too much, Lord.  I’m throwing in the towel on this faith thing.  I can handle what this world throws at me because you are my refuge.”

One last note.  Don’t add to God’s words.  That doesn’t mean don’t use examples to explain them or use tools to help understand them.

Consider the counsel in this way.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart with the following exceptions…

Love one another except for the really hard cases.  God will forgive you for murder once or twice if they really had it coming to them.

Be known by your love except when you just really need to put someone down.

Have no other gods beside me, football teams and celebrities excluded.

Seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness first unless it interferes with your work. 

Love one another as much as you can get away with without being labeled a Jesus freak.

When we add words to God’s word, they often exclude others from our club or exempt ourselves from specific requirements.

Our tendency is to make exceptions to God’s way when it keeps us in our comfort zones.  I have searched and researched this and I can’t find the verse that says, “Blessed is he who does not venture out of his comfort zone.”

God is constantly calling us out of our comfort zones into his way.  It’s called growing in grace.  If we must live in a comfort zone, it should be one label GROWTH.

Let’s just stick to God’s way without our personal modifications. Use the full biblical witness, but stick to God’s way.

How do we wrap this up with something to chew on?

Every word of God is flawless;

    he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Amen.

Genuine and Urgent

 Read Proverbs 29

Think on this proverb that begins chapter 29.

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes

    will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

We do our best to live God’s way.  Sometimes we mess it up.  Sometimes we miss the mark.  Often, we confess and give it another try.  We love mercy and grace and forgiveness that we just never deserved.

What about those who are just so stubborn that they won’t take any counsel, including God’s. What about those who know better and don’t even give it an effort?  What about them?

We forgive, not just seven times but seven times seventy.  That’s some big-time forgiveness right there, but when is enough finally enough?

That’s not for us to say, but wisdom does say there will come a point when those who have hardened their hearts against the Lord have reached a point of no return.  God is constantly calling for sinners to repent and receive his mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  He desires none to perish.

But the choice to remain stiff necked, obstinate, hard-hearted or hard-headed at some point voids the chance for redemption and it’s gone in an instant.  He may have had a million opportunities—opportunities that he thought would always be there—but now they are gone.

They don’t’ gradually slip away.  At whatever the tipping point is—and that ball is squarely in God’s court—it will seem as if the chance for redemption was gone in an instant. It seems that destruction came suddenly.

In reality, many warnings were given.  The assumption that many more will always follow is flawed.  That mindset is called presumptive sin. It’s the thought that I will always have one more chance. At some point, it’s game over.

For the saved, this is a moot point.  We believe.  We profess Jesus is Lord! Our knees have already bowed before him.  We are trying to be known as his disciples by our love.  We believe!

But what about those who don’t believe and continue to resist despite our best efforts?  What happens when the song goes from softly and tenderly Jesus is calling to I never knew you?

What happens?  More precisely, what are we to do?

As long as it is called today, we deliver a genuine message of salvation, knowing that one day, we will not be here to deliver that message.  One day, the lost person’s life will end.  One day some will hear I never knew you.

We must never quit being known by our love.

We must let our light shine every day so people may see the glory of God.

We must be the salt of the earth all the time so people may taste the goodness of God.

We must proclaim the good news—fulfill our commission until the end of the age or our time in these bodies expires.

There is an urgency to our message.  We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know our message must be delivered today.

So long as we are genuine in our love and our message and our urgency, the hard-headedness of those who will not hear is not our burden to bear.  Our hearts may hurt for them, but their stiff-necked rejection of the truth is not our burden to bear.

Speaking the truth in a spirit of love is our burden to bear.  We must not be shy in delivering the message that there is God’s way and there is everything else.  Life lies in God’s way.  Destruction is the destination of those who persist to live in the everything else.

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes

    will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

When you wonder about the urgency of your message—of the good news, consider the last two words in this proverb—without remedy.  Some say with no hope of healing.

God’s invitation to return to him seems to have no end, but one day the invitation will cease and judgment will be delivered.  God is not slow in bringing about this day.  He is patient desiring that none perish, but the day will come.

We will not know his wrath, but we do know his heart.  His heart desires none to perish.  Our part is to be genuine and urgent in our message of life.

The rejection of our message is not our burden.  We do all that we can and then we rest in the Lord’s peace.

We are to be genuine and urgent.

We must be genuine and urgent.

Genuine and Urgent!

Amen.

Blessed is the One who heeds Wisdom's Instruction

 Read Proverbs 29

As we draw near the end of Proverbs, we come again to where we began.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.  Consider my governing framework for this book of wisdom in the context of verse 18.

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;

    but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

That was from the NIV. Some of you my age may have learned this in the King James Version.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

The English Standard Version puts it this way.

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,

    but blessed is he who keeps the law.

When we do not receive the vision sent to us by God—in whatever form that takes for us who live in this age—we depart from the blessings of living God’s way into the minefields of the everything else.

When we don’t listen to and abide in what Dad, Abba, Father has been telling us, we are surely headed out of the land of blessings into the wasteland of peril.

I’ll take one more crack at this.  There is God’s way and there is everything else.

God’s way – Everything else

Blessings – Minefields

Wisdom – Foolishness

Righteous – Wicked

Industrious – Lazy

Obedient - Rebellious

Life – Death

God’s way – Everything else

For all of the parallel construction, positives and negatives, A-B structures, provocations that require some deep thought, metaphors and other comparative tools, Solomon brings us to the ultimate dichotomy.

There is living God’s way and there is everything else.

If we don’t look to God’s way and are blind to his revelations, we live without restraint.  We live lawlessly.  We perish.  In modern rural vernacular, that dog don’t hunt.

If we go back to the original language, we find that God’s way was delivered most often in what we call the law—the Torah.

There is much discussion whenever we use the word law or Torah, so much so that many Christians lose sight of the command to be known as disciples of Jesus by our love and substitute being known by our interpretations and self-righteousness.

Too often we strain out gnats and swallow camels in wanting people to agree with our way, instead of being known as disciples of our Lord by practicing God’s way, by living a life governed by love.

The problem is that we too often place what some would consider negative or confining attributes on the words Torah and law.  We should consider these terms in a fuller meaning, hopefully, closer to their original intent.

What is Torah?  It is direction.  It is instruction.  It is law, but it is also customs, rulings, teachings, but most of all it is God’s way.  Whether we frame it as a command, a directive, an instruction, a ruling, or guidance—it is God’s way. Commands, directives, instructions, and the like can all mean the exact same thing or vary in significant ways.  That variance is often our language mixed with our perspectives and sorted by our bias.  It is also our vulnerability to being lured into the everything else.

Understand that God revealed his way to us for our own good. We should receive, understand, and live out the instructions that God gave us.

Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

He that keeps the law is happy

Blessed is he who keeps the law.

But I thought we were free from the law?  I thought Jesus was the way to heaven?  I thought the ultimate sacrifice for our sins had been made?

I thought we were saved by grace through faith?  You are!

But how will you respond to this wonderful gift?  Will you live to bring glory to God?  Will you enjoy your relationship with God?

God has revealed his way to us.  He has also revealed the everything else.  Much of this revelation came in those first 5 books of the Bible.  Much came through the prophets. Much came in the wisdom books of the Bible.  Much came in the life and teachings of Christ Jesus—the Word made flesh, and much comes from the Spirit of God that lives within us.

When we dismiss or devalue one part of God’s revelations to us, we discount his sovereignty in favor of our own and are not heeding wisdom’s instructions. 

Our atonement came in the blood of Christ Jesus—the only one to ever fulfill the law, but our response to this great love is left to us.  Will we stop resisting when God is directing our steps?

God is moving us forward to a better relationship with him.  One obstacle to that is our interpretation of this statement:  Love fulfills the Law.

Too many think that those who live by love are getting off easy.  God’s laws must be rigid and strict and compliance must be lock-step, and to some degree difficult.  Consider, instead, that God has raised—not lowered—the bar for us, at least for those who will follow him and be known as his disciples by our love.

Love fulfills the law does not abandon obedience.  It embraces it.  I know several people who can do tasks over and over again and do them well.  They are obedient and compliant and do exactly what the specifications require. The specification may be difficult, but skill comes with repetition.

Others note the specifications for individual tasks and have been given eyes to see a house or a ship or a space station.  We do not denounce those who can only see the step-by-step directions.  They are living their lives as fully as they are equipped to do.

We should also embrace those who can see the house or the ship when they read the directions.  They do not see less.  They are not less obedient. They see the designer’s passion and embrace it. They live by love and in so doing fulfill the law.

They—in many cases that is we—didn’t get off easy.  We accepted the challenge to live completely in God’s way.

If you think you are getting off easy when you say, love fulfills the law; you have not understood God’s ways.  Living by love is not joining the French Foreign Legion never to be heard of again. It’s living to the glory of God, growing in his grace, and enjoying the relationship knowing that the life you have called your own truly belongs to the one you proclaim as Lord.

The old standard for us was to love God with everything we had and love each other as much as we love ourselves.  While difficult, we sometimes obtain that second part.  Loving someone as much as we love ourselves is possible.

Now consider that Jesus gave his disciples—that includes us in this age—a new command.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

We don’t just love others as much as we love ourselves.  That would be easy in comparison to what he called us—commanded us—to do.  Love one another as much as he loved us.  He loved us to the point of giving his life for us.  Yep, that raised the bar.

Remember, all of the points of the law hang upon, rest upon, come together in the commands to love God and love one another.  Loving God and loving one another are the supporting uprights and beams of the law.

Let’s get back to the proverb.

Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

He that keeps the law is happy

Blessed is he who keeps the law.

Why follow the law?  Why live a life governed by love.  Why seek to live God’s way?

As with so much that has been revealed to us in our studies, God does things that are for our own good and instructs us to do things that bless us.  They are the directions that give us hope and a future.

We do not live God’s way to obtain salvation.  God has done all that is required to save us from our sins and from death.  Jesus paid it all!

In response to this unfathomable love, we want to please God.  We want to live in his ways.  We want to do the things that bless God. We want to bring glory to his name and enjoy the relationship he has in store for us. We want to live as he designed us to live.

When we do, he blesses us even more.  We are happy.  Sin and death are no longer hanging over us.  So, what will we do?  Will we go on sinning so grace can abound even more?

BY NO MEANS!

We will live God’s way.  We will live as he instructed us, not so much in lock-step compliance—though some may find this to be the limits of their God-given abilities—but fully governed by love.  In so doing, we will be happy and blessed.

There is God’s way and there is everything else, and God’s way is love.

God’s way is love!

Blessed is he who lives by Love. To live this life given to us in the blood of Jesus, and to live it without love, is lawlessness.  It is rebellion.

God is love.  God’s way is love. His law, his prophets, his wisdom, his Word made flesh, and his Spirit that lives within us bring us to love.  Love directs our steps.

There is God’s way and there is everything else, and God’s way is love.

We can live in God’s way.  Remember that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  You are equipped to live God’s way.  You are equipped to live by love.

Amen.

Just a short rabbit trail...

 When one door closes, another door opens.  Other than that, it’s a pretty good car.

It’s not how many times you fall down.  It’s how many times you get up.

No sir.  That’s not the way a field sobriety test works.

I was reading an online post by a Christian that said her favorite verse was This too shall pass.  I kept scrolling knowing that there was no such verse.  There are many scriptures and pericopes that would support the general notion, but people sometimes just accept what sounds good as biblical.

It could be that the phrase this too shall pass might be attributed to Solomon’s court, but as an inscription on a ring or so says the Hebrew folklore.

We can understand the sentiment.  Sorrow may last for the night but joy comes in the morning would surely support that sentiment, but the problem is that we often not only attribute general sayings to the Bible, but we don’t even consider their full context.

This too shall pass gives us comfort in the storm, but it should also give us eyes to see that the joy of this day or this hour will soon be history. It’s not just the trial but the satisfaction of the moment that passes as well.

Or as Abraham Lincoln once said,” How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!”

Why is Tom rambling this morning?

When we conclude Proverbs here in a few weeks, we will do a one-week wrap-up. I will ask everyone to read a verse that we have heard read aloud for twenty-something Sundays so far. It’s Ephesians 5:15-16.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

When you think of the Bible verse that is not actually a Bible verse, think on how many opportunities to be God’s love, share his word, and help others to know life have just passed us by.

How many opportunities have we missed in an age that does not know God?

When one door closes, another door opens.  Other than that, it’s a pretty good car.

As we get closer to the end of our study in Proverbs, consider how fleeting our opportunities are to be God’s love and show love and mercy through our wisdom.  For now: Let’s get to Proverbs 26.