April 24 | Proverbs 14:30-35

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DAILY READING

Proverbs 14:30-35

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REFLECTION

A Heart at Peace

by Beth Voltmann

Today’s reading can be difficult if you try to read the verses as one continuous portion of Scripture. When reading Proverbs, it is beneficial to slow your normal pace and calm your mind in order to soak in the Godly wisdom offered by Solomon (and others).

I find it helpful to read each verse several times, asking the Lord to reveal his Word to me for that day. Here are a few suggestions:

· Make a chart. Note what characteristics identify a person who follows the Lord versus one who does not.

· Underline or highlight the words that God impresses upon you.

· Write the verse by hand on a separate piece of paper.

· Ask God to lead you to other Bible passages that support the wisdom of the proverb.

As I consider our current teaching series, “FREE," today’s first proverb succinctly helps me to understand the result that comes when I entrust to the Lord all that is dear to me—my money, home, family, friends, food, comfort, health, time, etc.

“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30)

Lesson:

- Trusting the Lord from a heart of peace brings LIFE.

- Envying what others have or do causes ROT.

Additional Scripture:

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27)

Each new day, God’s Word instructs me to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus for a heart of peace that can trust him with all that I have. I desire LIFE, not ROT.

Are you living with a heart of peace today?

Take some quiet time to re-read today’s verses. Is there one that catches your attention?

Consider:

            Is God speaking to me?

                        Am I lacking wisdom in this area?

                                    What is God trying to teach me?

                                                Will I allow his Spirit to guide me?

The Proverbs were written so that we might gain wisdom and instruction in the ways of the Lord. (Proverbs 1:1-7)

PRAYER

"Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24)

Amen.

April 23 | Proverbs 13:6-14, 22

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DAILY READING

Proverbs 13:6-14, 22

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REFLECTION

Lord Save the Savers

by Dan Kidd

We began this week with a parable about "a certain rich man" who'd been blessed with an abundant harvest, yielding him so much grain that he couldn't fit it all in the barns he owned, so he decided he'd tear those down and replace them with newer, bigger barns to store this overflow--reasoning that with all this grain saved up he could now retire to a life spent with his feet up, eating, drinking, and enjoying the spoils of life. Little did he know that that very evening the Lord would come to him, saying "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you." What, one might ask, does this have to do with the theme of being free? What exactly are we, as Christians, meant to do when it comes to saving our money?

In today's passage, we hear several proverbs on a variety of themes like righteousness, integrity, and the acquiring and saving wealth. And at first, I read these proverbs as a sequence of distinct thoughts--grouped together simply by conincidence. But the more I've read and reread this passage, and allowed it to shift and settle some, I'm convinced that these proverbs belong with each other, and that each of them augments the others. How are we to deal wisely with our wealth? It isn't enough to simply be patient, or shrewd. Those living in the wisdom of the Lord need also to be humble, and generous. Wisdom depends not only on honesty, but on integrity and a teachable spirit. Righteousness, honesty, humility, hope, patience, generosity, self-control, integrity--all of these harmonize with one another to form the melody of God's wisdom. And wherever we are weak or deficient in one of these things, we run the risk of foolishness and wickedness.

So, if we're looking for simple answers for how and how much we're supposed to save our wealth as Christians, we're destined for disapointment. Because living wisely is complex, and it asks a lot from us. Surely it's reasonable to have read Jesus' parable about the wealthy man building bigger barns with plans to retire to a life of eating and drinking in merriment and think, "yes, that sounds like an excellent plan for one's twilight years." Why wouldn't God agree with that? Because more is expected from us than shrewdly hoarding our wealth, or receiving God's generosity without multiplying it. Notice v. 22 in today's passage,

A good person leaves and inheritance for their children's children,

but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous.

This man's shrewdness betrayed his generosity. The man in Jesus' parable built bigger barns to store up wealth for no one but himself, and that very night he forfeited every last bit of his earthly treasures to someone else. None of it came with him. This was foolishness. Lord, lead us not into this temptation; deliver us from this evil.

Over the course of the day, return back to these few parables. Allow these words to shift and settle for you, and as you meditate on them throughout the day, invite God's Spirit to lead you in the way of God's wisdom as it relates to our money and how we might save it, and what we might save it for. Because, the truth is, the only way we can hope to navigate the way of God's wisdom is by being led in that path by the Spirit.

PRAYER

Lord, we ask that as we meditate on your words to us today that you guide us in your wisdom by the power of the Holy Spirit. We pray that you would set our hearts to use our wealth and possessions virtuously, in ways that honor your generosity. Give us your mind to consider how we might save and for what we ought to save towards. Continue to train us to trust you, and Lord, set us free from the bondages of fear, impulsivity, selfishness, and all the other things that might tempt us to do what we needn't do and instead, to live firmly in your will and your way. Amen.

April 22 | 1 Timothy 5:1-8

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DAILY READING

1 Timothy 5:1-8

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REFLECTION

Practical Advice

by Pr. Dave Mann

In these verses, the Apostle Paul gives some very practical advice to young Timothy as he prepares to assist in the training and encouragement of the newly planted Christian churches.

First of all, in verse 5, Paul teaches Timothy how to relate to various segments of the population of the body of Christ:

              Older men as fathers

              Younger men as brothers

              Older women as mothers

              Younger women as sisters

For the younger women, Paul adds an exhortation—“in all purity.”  It seems that the challenges of sexual purity have not changed much in 2000 years. In general, Paul’s encouragement is to treat everyone as though they were family. Indeed, they are family—the family of God. Everyone is regarded with respect.

Then in verses 3-8, Paul gives instructions on how Christian families should show honor and care for aging members of the church.  He references only widows. It appears that the same was true in the 1st century as it is today, that women normally outlast men in the department of length of life. So, the church should be ready to help believers in need (usually widows), but only if there are no younger kin available to care for their elderly family members. If there are, they should be the first to step forward to provide for those nearing the end of their life on earth. Paul had also earlier written instructions about this matter in Ephesians 6:1-3: Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise — “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Many biblical scholars believe that Timothy was charged particularly with the care of the church in Ephesus. Thus, Paul’s exhortation to Timothy echoed what the apostle had previously written to the entire church in Ephesus.

We often interpret these verses in Ephesians as applying to young children and young parents. But they also apply to the care of elderly parents by their middle-aged children. See Proverbs 23:22: “Listen to your father who gave you life and do not despise your mother when she is old.”

The elderly are not left without any exhortation of their own in this paragraph. They are challenged to place their hope in God, to live lives devoted to prayer, and to avoid carnal pleasure.

All in all, Paul gives Timothy very practical advice.

PRAYER

Lord God, thank you for honorable and trustworthy leaders in the church. We ask that all of us allocate the necessary resources to care for our aging parents and family members, so that they may place their hope in God and rely devoutly on You until that day when you call them home, in Jesus’ name, Amen.