CLIFF WALKING

Prov 2:7 – "[God] holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield for those who walk blameless . . .”  But there are those who do not walk “blameless”; in fact hardly any of us do.  As we walk near or into areas where we could be tainted by things or actions that might cause blame, we are putting at risk what success God has “in store for the upright”. 

God has been generous to give me a degree of success.  Yet for the success I have I know I have not been blameless.   This leads me to wonder:  How much more success might I have had? 

This is not a time to regret things of the past, but a time to concentrate on being upright, to avoid paths I know lead past items of “blame”. 

To flirt with areas for which you could be justifiably blamed for sin is to risk your success.  It is like walking too close to an edge of a cliff.  You don’t hear happy stories about people who walk too near the edges of cliffs.

UNTIL THE HARVEST

The ant provides her meat in summer and gathers her food in harvest. (Prov 6:8)  To provide means she had taken forethought to make sure it is there, available for use.  It is there for use in the summer when no other crops are available, for they are growing.  There will be no food available until the crops get ripe for harvesting.  This means there have to be plans to store and ration some of last year’s harvest until the new harvest is ready; and so on for all harvests. 

We can not be sluggards but must be like the ant.  We must protect the seed for planting and protect the crops as they grow.  We must keep our harvest tools prepared.  We must understand there is a constant rate of consumption and a cyclic rate of planting/harvest.  We have to match these together properly.  We have to be actively aware and plan and be ever vigilant of efficiency and avoidance of waste.