I had some trouble this morning. I had some trouble making a decision. No, it wasn’t whether to get out of bed or not. 🙂 And no, it was not earth-shattering, ground-breaking, or even life-changing. It really should have been a simple one. You see, every other month I read Proverbs. The chapter I read corresponds with the day. In other words, today is the 28th so I read chapter 28. Each time I read I highlight a different verse with a different color. (I recently found Mr. Pen Bible Safe Highlighters to be fantastic with no bleed through). Back to earth, Bill. Proverbs 28 is filled with so many verses I could highlight that I couldn’t make a quick decision. Here are just a couple:
28:2- “When there is moral rot in a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.” Need I say more?
28:6- “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.” Hmmm. That sets your mind back a bit.
28:7- “Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.” Choose friends wisely.
28:13- “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” Shades of Psalm 51.
There are more and I would encourage you to read the chapter. Slowly. Savoring it. But, here is the verse I settled on this morning: “Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.” (v.25)
Some would look at that verse and their eyes will light up at the latter part. “See? Prosperity is promised.” But the whole verse must be considered, not just a section. “Greed causes fighting.” Put a nail through that section. “I want.” -> “Step aside.” (or step on/over) -> “I get.” That is a recipe for disaster. And that is exactly the point of that first section. James 4:1-2 says, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have…”
The core issue is greed, selfishness. The rest of that verse simply says if we take our eyes off ourselves and trust we will know true wealth. Can there be anything better than true reliance on the Source?
Let us rely on God alone to provide all our needs, not our wants.
Blessings, Bill!
Very true Martha. They are even spelled differently: WANT or NEED.
Want vs Need….. It continues to boggle the mind how the list of wants continue to get recategorized as needs as our society ages. God will provide. This doesn’t mean it will always be handed to us. For those who are able, God expects that provision to come through using the skills and abilities He has given us.
Thankful for a God that provides not only our needs, but also many of our wants.
You have the right idea Ryan. God does provide for us and in many ways it is with the gifts He has given us. Gifts we often take for granted. I’m also glad that He will provide our wants if He deems them necessary for us. 🙂 Unfortunately, His idea of essential and mine are often different.
I have been studying the book of Romans, the core message of the book is all about worship, and seeing God for who He really is, and being overwhelmed with His grace, mercy, and love, and that our design by Our Creator was so we would be in a state of constant worship. If we were in a state of constant worship,we would realize that everything belongs to God, and God provides everything we need. Greed would be washed away, we would stop desiring what we do not have, our want list would be only to worship God more. My desire to be in a state of constant worship gets overshadowed, by my greed, things I think I need or want do, I push worship aside to attend to myself. Nothing is more important than God, and His glorification, I will continue to work on pursuing God more and myself less.
I love your thoughts and I love your heart Gail. Nothing is to be more important than pursuing God first and foremost. I actually was working on a sermon this morning for January 21 from Colossians 1 that says just that. I hope my 2024 is one of those years where my heart is passionate for Him also.
I love your idea of reading Proverbs through on a regular basis. We attended a Frankin Graham event and they gave us Bibles that contain the book of Proverbs to read through like Billy Graham used to do. I haven’t started doing that yet, but I think it is an awesome idea.
As you can gather, I recommend it highly. I hope it will become a regular for you in 2024.