God Bless you people of God,
Be reminded: WE ARE FASTING FOR THE NEXT 7 DAY's in an effort to draw closer to God in this Journey.
Details: Fast from food from 8AM-6PM. You are free to stay hydrated with water and juice (NO SODA).
Read proverb 15 and be sure to pray 3 times a day (when you wake, during the day, and before you slumber)
Focus Text: Proverb 15: 16-17 and 33
16 Better a little with the fear of the LORD
than great wealth with turmoil.
17 Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened calf with hatred.
Reflection: Today's reflection offers great wisdom. It is quite simple. Read slowly: The fear of the lord and love are very vaulable as we pursue wisdom and as we attempt to come closer to God. The proverb says if we have little but fear the lord, we are better off than having wealth without fearing God. It says it is better to have vegetables and love than meat and hate (i guess science would agree with this one also.)
Meditate on this for a moment
Do we fear having little because little is normally associated with lacking. The beautiful thing about this proverb is it offers us a unique paradox. It tells us that we balance having little or "vegetables" by fearing and loving God. In other words, God subsidizes or makes up for the little in our lives when we depend on God. God wants us to learn how to manage little/vegatables so that when we get meat and wealth we will have healthy habits of loving, fearing, and depending on God.
But listen to how the lord beckons our commitment and motive for serving and seeking the divine. What do we sacrifice for more? What do we sacrifice for wealth and meat? Do we sacrifice our fear of God and love just to be wealthy? Do we make decisions that risk our relationship with God and neglect our fear of the Lord?
Thank God for the vegetables because they provide nutrients. Thank God for the little because in our little we discover God's abundance.
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We often associate "little" with not be successful. For example.. having little money, low grades, low self-esteem etc. I think that it's easy to want more and deal with the consequences of that later, but the text suggests that having little/low is better than have "no" or "any". I think having little is worth more because it will not be easy and you appreciate it more.
ReplyDelete15:17-- Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.
From this , I ask myself... would you rather have all the riches in the world and no love/family to share it with or not have much and have a family support system that is as strong as a covalent bond? I rather the latter because once the job is gone, the money spent, all the fool eaten, traveled all round the world.... what else is there to enjoy or have?
Focusing on the other part of the chapter:
15:18 A hot tempered man stirs up dissension but a patient man clams a quarrel.
This relates to yesterdays reading, reiterating that those that are patience are wise!
I find 15:3 and 15:11 very interesting.
3: The eyes of the Lord are everywhere keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
11: Death and Destruction lie open before the Lord how much more the hearts of men!
WOW! There is no escaping God. When you think He is not watching he is. And even in death and in the grave the Lord knows your secrets. So whats the point of hiding from or trying to deceive Him. He already knows. So make it easy on yourself and just be up front with Him and others. This is the wise thing to do.
For this week I will focus on what I have rather abundant or scares, for the Lord has blessed me in the way that He see fit and will continue to do so as needed.