Desire and Want: Proverbs Project Continued

Getting it to stick is the challenge.  My journey continues to commit a verse from each chapter of Proverbs to memory.  I shouldn’t be too discouraged since it only takes a few brief moments to forget where I placed my keys or glasses!  But, I am not going to give up.  Today’s verse is Proverbs 9:9, Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.  I think the question that I have to ask is, “Do I have a desire to be wise; do I want to be a righteous man?”  I am pretty quick to to say, “yes, of course I do.”  However, to answer that honestly, it must include a willingness to walk the path that will bring about wisdom and righteousness in my life.  A subtle danger is that my motive for wanting to be a wise and righteous man, ends up being a desire to be known as wise and righteous!  If I allow that to come into play I am a fool and pride dominates my life rather than righteousness.  “Lord, may my desire to be wise (in your eyes) and especially to be in right relationship to you (righteousness) be my only desire and want.”  What do you think?

Love Poll

When I viewed the site it seemed to be out of balance, so I thought I would add a poll asking about the things we love.  Rob Bell has a great Nooma video called “002 flame” that explores the three Hebrew words for love used in the Song of Songs.  We throw the word love around very casually in our culture. For example (from Rob Bell) we say, “I love tacos.” And then, we turn around and say, “I love my wife.” Hmmm, something to think about.  Watch the video at www.nooma.com   It is only about 11 minutes long.

Hate: Proverbs Project Continues

When is hate a good thing?  My quick response, and probably yours as well, is “never!”  Of course it’s OK to hate spiders (unless your name is Charlotte), rats, and other things that annoy us.  Don’t you just hate getting a sunburn on the first day of your vacation in Hawaii?  I personally hate grilled onions on my hamburgers.  What do you hate?  That’s the problem we run into with hate.  Things that annoy us long enough we begin to have a hate relationship with, especially when a person gets thrown into the mix once in a while.  Then there is the issue of evil and sin.  Do we hate these things?  Proverbs 8:13 says, “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”  Is it possible that when we see these things reflected in our own lives we have become comfortable with them?  May we look into our lives and when evil behavior, pride, arrogance, and perverse speech are revealed, let us hate them enough to end our relationship with them altogether.

Learning From Clouds

Moving Clouds

 

When was the last time you sat down and watched the clouds go by?  When I was a kid I would kick back in the grass and watch the clouds form various shapes hoping to see something come to life.  As a kid it was easy to imagine lions, monsters, the hand of God, two lovers kissing, or all kinds of shapes dancing across the sky.  The fluffier the clouds and the faster the wind the more real those shapes would become.  Oh those were the days. 

Today I found myself in the grass watching the clouds go by for a few minutes.  I tried to remember the last time I had done that, and can only remember doing it as a kid.  As I looked across the valley I was able to see where the sunlight and the shadows met on the hillside.  Beyond that the clouds were thick and you could tell it was raining with little hope of seeing the sun there.  Where I was sitting the sun was bright and the view was beautiful.  All of a sudden I realized that over across the valley in the midst of the dark clouds there was someone looking out their window at the rain and seeing only grey.  If only they could have the perspective that I had.  If only they could see the beauty, the majesty, and that beyond the clouds there is a sun shining brightly.  Perspective.  May I see what God sees, even when it is raining in my world.