Building Wisely

For Friday, August 3, 2007
Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.

So how is the house of your life being built? Does it have a sturdy foundation composed of the wisdom from God's Word or does it wobble on the weak foundation of secular culture? Who has established your code of conduct, your foundational principles of the way things should be? God's Word or the secular media? And don't think that can be measured by how conservative or liberal your political views may be. The most conservative person politically can be the one most off the mark about the gospel.

How are you filling your rooms? With what is meaningful or what is superficially pleasing? With what has long-term value or what fits the momentary fad? Or are your rooms bare because you do not do anything to fill it with memories?

We are all called to do something with our lives. Some of us may be materially rich and some of us poor. Some of us may have many abilities; some of us few. But we are all called to build homes. And we need wisdom. If rich, we need wisdom on how not to be wasteful; if we are poor, we need wisdom on how to make the most of what we have. The rich fool thinks whatever is expensive must be good; the poor fool excuses himself from doing anything because of what he lacks.

Seek wisdom. Pray for it. Study it in God's Word. Learn from others who have it. For it is not as you grow in wealth that you will prosper, nor even as you grow in information. It is how you grow in wisdom that you become a wise builder.

Of Evil Men

For Thursday, August 2, 2007
Proverbs 24:1-2

Be not envious of evil men,
nor desire to be with them,
for their hearts devise violence,
and their lips talk of trouble.

Sometimes we are envious of the wicked. They seem to prosper. They seem to be happy and contented. They have traits that seem admirable - daring, decisive, even generous at times. Some even rise to the status of heroes and legends.

But don't forget what they are about - trouble, violence. They are wrong-doers. It is easy to be daring and decisive without a conscience. It is easy to be generous as an oppressor and possessing riches that one can maintain through stealing from others. It is easy to be kind to some people while ruthless with others.

And remember what it is to become the friend of an evil men. You move yourself into the position of "owing" the duties of friendship as they define it. You are expected to do them favors - from hiding them from the law or helping them to break the law. They scheme trouble - not trouble to get into, but trouble to cause for others, and they have no troubled conscience about you getting caught in those troubles.

Do not envy the wicked, but rather delight in the path of righteousness and in the Righteous One who acts only for your good.

Delusion

For Wednesday, July 31, 2007
Proverbs 23:29-25

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who tarry long over wine;
those who go to try mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter perverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
35 "They struck me," you will say,
"but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink."

The key in understanding this teaching lies in the phrases "Who has wounds without cause?" and "they struck me...but I was not hurt." Inebriation creates delusion. The deeper the inebriation the deeper the delusion and more frightening it turns. It exagerates experience; it brings out one's fears. These verses describe a nightmare. Even then, one might think that the experience would wake a person to his senses. He will say to himself, "I'll never do that again." But instead, he wants another drink.

This is the way it is with worldly pleasures. They make their appeal to our senses, giving us the feeling of being in control. They then remove our self-control and take us over. So is the way of drinking, of drugs, of illicit sex, of gambling and anything that draws us from pleasure in our God.

"I must have..." Is there anything in your life which you would say with these words? Then beware. Already delusion is affecting you. Esau thought he must have a bowl of stew. Achan thought he must have silver. Amnon thought he must have his sister Tamar.

The Lord is the only whom you must have. Without him, we have nothing; with him we have all that we need. Without him we live in a delusion; with him we see clearly the way things are and what we truly have.

Entrapment

For Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Proverbs 23:26-28

My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress is a narrow well.
She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.

Understand the motivation of the prostitute - it is to get your money. That is all she is about and nothing else. She wants your money and as much as she can get. The "pleasures" she gives and makes believe that she receives are merely a scheme to take money. And it works. You will come back. You will defy the principles you hold dear. You will risk the lost of your closest relationships and the respect of those you respect the most. You will risk disease. And all the while you will give your money, even going into debt. You will become a traitor to your faith, your spouse, your friends, even to yourself. And you will continue to give your money to the one who has ruined you.

So it is with other worldly pleasures. Beware of anything that leads you to live a double life while it takes your money. Understand that all these pleasures are "given out" for one purpose - to take your money. The prostitute does not enter her line of work out of the desire to give pleasure. She does so because it is good money. The casinos do not exist for people's pleasure. They exist to take money. Prostitutes and casino owners do not go to bed at night sastified with how happy they have made others. If they go to bed happy, it is from counting their profits made off of you and which they have entrapped you to keep giving.

What a contrast to our God. People turn away from him because he is "demanding." And yet he is the only one who truly gives with our happiness in mind. He gave to us while we were his enemies and he continues to give to us as his children. He will top it all off with eternal glory. He turns our very giving into receiving, for we find the very act of giving to be a blessing. He will give to you throughout today. He will only do what is for your good. He will turn suffering into wellbeing. You will always be in his thoughts; your good will always be his plan. Why become a traitor to such a God? It is wrong, but it is also foolishness. Why get caught in a trap where you must always be spending more money to get your "pleasures," when you can buy the everlasting pleasures of God without any cost?

The Parent Bond

For Monday, July 30, 2007
Proverbs 23:22-25

22 Listen to your father who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.

What is the special bond of parent to child? The bestowing of life. The proverb begins and ends with this observation. Is there any greater, more significant act than to bring another life into the world? Is there any other human bond that is more sacred than that of parent-child, as a result?

What do parents want for their children? Certainly they desire success and happiness, but more so, they want their children to have noble traits, which begins with wisdom and the desire to be instructed. With such, he will acquire what he needs for life, but more to the point, he will become a person of worthy character. For parents understand that they cannot control the future of their children. They cannot guarantee good things will happen. And so their hope to instill good values that will equip their children to handle the circumstances of life and to be worthy people.

So you want to honor your parents? Then buy truth and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. But that is not what your parents want? Then do not forget your heavenly Father. This is what he wants, for true wisdom and knowledge come from him and glorify him. And he, after all, is the true giver of life - physically and spiritually. May he rejoice in the wisdom you learn and impart today.