May 18, 2015

I am diving back into the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter six to be exact, and what this deals with and talks about are the “lessons for daily life.”  Now what begins this chapter is the talk about debt and giving something up, or trapping yourself, in order to help your friend or family.  Now it may seem like help but it’s not, for instance being a co-signer on an agreement, the Bible says to beg to have your name erased, to not rest until it is removed, and to run away from it like a gazelle escaping a hunter.  Dave Ramsey uses this analogy all the time, calling it gazelle intensity on how you approach and attack different issues in order to get the solution you are looking for.  You may think you are helping that person out, but what happens if they neglect to pay on whatever it maybe, it falls back on you.  If agree to co-sign for that person, what you’re saying is that you are ok with debt, and there is no such thing as good debt, debt is not the way to live.

The next lesson that is shown talks about ants, telling us to be like the ants.  In the way that they are very hard-working and not lazy, they have no ruler or no one in charge, they just know what their job is and what needs to be done in order to live and make it through the hard times of winter.  Why can’t we be like the ants and make stock piles and be prepared for the hard times, people just turn to the easy way out and think they can slide by without worry.  It goes on to talk about the lazy people who sleep too much, verse 11, then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

The Bible tells us about things that the Lord hates or detests, shouldn’t that be an eye opener to us, to put what the Lord hates on our hate list too?  Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.  I know that in my life it is a drive for me to be more and more like what God wants us to be.  Now I know I am not perfect and I never will be, but shouldn’t we drive to be as close to that as we can?  Yes, we should, we should strive to be like God in everything we do, in every aspect of our daily lives.

Again in Proverbs it says, my son, obey your father’s commands, and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.  Talking about their words protecting you and advising you in the way you should go and the things you should do.  I know that I wouldn’t be like I am today if it weren’t for the advice and protection that my parents have shown me, I couldn’t imagine having better parents than the ones I have, saying that I am blessed isn’t even enough.

There really is no “good” excuses for the mistakes that we make, verse 30 says, excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving.  But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.  Point being that stealing is wrong no matter what the reason or excuse may be, it is wrong in God’s eyes.  Use these daily lessons to bring your relationship with God even closer, everyday strive to be what God created you to be and nothing short of that.