Proverbs 23:23: "Buy the truth and sell it not, and instruction and understanding"
How empty it would be to get rich, to get to the top, to have all the “things” -yet - to have lost wives and children, mother and father, friends and family along the way. If you are fabulously rich and have lost all the other, are you really rich? What situation are you in? Are the others that are rich looking to steal from you? Who do you have to pay to protect you? Which is your friend and who just wants your money? Who will take care of you if you get sick if no one cares other than the ones you pay to do it?
Suppose you live in a small house, or a rented house, or a tent. Are you not rich if you have and appreciate wives and children, mother and father, friends and family? If you are “poor” and have these I say you are really rich. What situation are you in? If you are not rich in money and possessions others will look elsewhere to steal rather than stealing from you. The ones who love you and respect you will want to protect you. Your friend just wants you, not your money. The ones you take care of will take care of you if you get sick. They will take care for you even if you are not sick.
The only reason I could know that wisdom, understanding and instruction are better than riches is because God tells me so and that knowledge of itself is of immense value.
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Monday, March 18, 2019
COMPULSIVE ISSUES
(PROV 23:35)
The problem with alcoholism – or any compulsive drive – is: "When shall I awake, I shall seek it yet again." The drunkard is not saying, "The purpose in my heart is that I will seek drunkenness again because I like it." (Although he may think that from time to time). He may really be saying, "When I awake from this time of drunkenness, will be ashamed again. I will not want to do it again, but I am afraid that I will, as I have done this time." This is likely true because he knows from experience he has been beaten and laying on "top of masts" (V34) as the Bible says. He has a history of it, he is suffering yet another time of regret.
There are many who have done things they should not have done. Many do not want to do it again. Drunks, who know they are drunks, do not generally want to be drunks. The warning at the front of all this is verse 31: "Look not upon the wine when is red, when it gives his color in the cup, when it moveth itself alright". Do not be in a place where you can look. You must stop at the beginning, before the first look, let alone the first drink, before drinking is even the issue. Or before the first pornographic link on the internet. Or before the first bit of gossip is passed on.
All compulsive issues are related. Stop. Keep to the right path before stepping onto the wrong one and turning back from it is too difficult. It would help when temptation nears to talk to yourself - out loud: “This is a good thing to do, this other thing is harmful for me.” Proverbs 5:8 says, “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:” Step 1: "remove your way" (don’t take that path) because step 2, being "near the door of her house", makes staying away harder to achieve.
The problem with alcoholism – or any compulsive drive – is: "When shall I awake, I shall seek it yet again." The drunkard is not saying, "The purpose in my heart is that I will seek drunkenness again because I like it." (Although he may think that from time to time). He may really be saying, "When I awake from this time of drunkenness, will be ashamed again. I will not want to do it again, but I am afraid that I will, as I have done this time." This is likely true because he knows from experience he has been beaten and laying on "top of masts" (V34) as the Bible says. He has a history of it, he is suffering yet another time of regret.
There are many who have done things they should not have done. Many do not want to do it again. Drunks, who know they are drunks, do not generally want to be drunks. The warning at the front of all this is verse 31: "Look not upon the wine when is red, when it gives his color in the cup, when it moveth itself alright". Do not be in a place where you can look. You must stop at the beginning, before the first look, let alone the first drink, before drinking is even the issue. Or before the first pornographic link on the internet. Or before the first bit of gossip is passed on.
All compulsive issues are related. Stop. Keep to the right path before stepping onto the wrong one and turning back from it is too difficult. It would help when temptation nears to talk to yourself - out loud: “This is a good thing to do, this other thing is harmful for me.” Proverbs 5:8 says, “Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:” Step 1: "remove your way" (don’t take that path) because step 2, being "near the door of her house", makes staying away harder to achieve.
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