Wisdom We Didn't Know We Had

“And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.” (1Ki 3:15 AV)

 The context here is extremely important.  Solomon has just ascended to the throne following the passing of David, his father.  He had dealt with the leftover enemies of his father and found himself at the high place of Gibeon.  There, he offered a thousand burnt offerings unto the LORD.  Gibeon was the highest of the high places.  Solomon had erected a tabernacle there so the people could worship.  This was in addition to the original tabernacle located in Jerusalem which housed the ark and all the furniture passed down from Moses.  It was at Gibeon that God granted Solomon’s gift of wisdom.  Rather than asking for wealth, long life, or the defeat of all his enemies, Solomon showed great wisdom is asking for wisdom.  What is striking in this passage is the very first act of Solomon after the LORD granted him that wisdom.  His first act as king was to return to Jerusalem to the site of the ark and brazen altar for the purpose of sacrifice and worship.  He left the high place of Gibeon and returned to the legitimate site of true worship.  Yet, Solomon never destroyed the high places he had built.  It didn’t dawn on him the act of wisdom he just exercised was the wisest of all and he needed to meditate upon that act as important for him and Israel.  His very first wise act was to acknowledge the superiority of the tabernacle in Jerusalem and the utter stumbling block the high places were going to be.

Wisdom can often be instinctual.  We don’t know why we chose to do something until afterward.  We see the wisdom of the choice and realize it was more than luck or mere chance.  There was something we saw but didn’t see.  Something outside ourselves told us a better choice was there.  Sometimes these things are simple.  However, sometimes these things are major.  How many times have we chosen an alternate route to our destination than we would normally take only to find out our regular route had a sudden problem.  I live in a large city.  My wife works about ten miles away from home.  There are more ways to get there and back then one can possibly compute.  The normal way to get there and back would be to use the expressway.  Going the side roads, with so many variations are often a choice.  Especially when I pick her up at the end of the day.  Many times, I have avoided the expressway to take the side roads.  There are times I avoid the major thoroughfares for less-traveled paths only to find out there were problems on those major roads we didn’t know about until later.  The thing about wisdom is the importance of flowing up.  What I mean is, after a choice is made that may seem a bit out of a pattern, it is good to reflect on that choice to discern whether it should be a choice that results in a permanent life change.

Like Solomon, we exercise wisdom we didn’t know we had all the time.  The problem is, we don’t take the time to meditate on what we just chose and why.  Had Solomon stopped for a moment and asked himself why he didn’t continue his sacrifices in Gibeon and instead, went to Jerusalem, he would have come to the conclusion the high places were not needed and would eventually be a problem.  It would have been more natural for him to offer more burnt offerings at Gibeon.  It was there where the LORD met Solomon after he offered a thousand burnt offerings.  Pragmatically, it would seem if the LORD blessed him at Gibeon, it should have been Gibeon as the place he should worship.  But wise instinct told him to return to the rightful place of worship.  His failure was a lack of meditation on the change of pattern so that he could learn from his own wisdom.  We all do this.  We all have this flaw.  We have more wisdom than we realize.  What we don’t do is learn the motive or logic behind the choices we make and thus waste a teachable moment that could result in a permanent life change.

Shame on Me

“Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” (Ps 119:6 AV)

 There’s something to be said for living a life free of shame.  I certainly wish I had.  Shame is something we all live with.  There are things we have done which, if we could, go back and undo them.  Mark Twain once said, “Man is the only animal that blushes, and the only animal that needs to.”  Shame is the conscience’s response to the wickedness we have done.  When the Holy Spirit brings to mind that which is right and we are caught in doing that which is wrong, we feel shame.  Shame is designed to change our behavior.  It is a feeling we would rather not experience.  Shame is something that can be foreseen.  It is predictable.  Thus, avoidable.  Shame is something from which we can be set free.  We are set free from shame when we ask for, and gain, forgiveness.  There is also the shame we feel when others will not forgive.  Even though the LORD has forgiven, others will not. It is at this time we need to learn to forgive ourselves.  Shame is a good thing.  Shame will keep us from repeating the same mistakes over and again.  In our passage, David shares how he plans to avoid as much shame as possible.  That is, respecting and obeying the word of God.

The word for respect means, “to regard with pleasure, favor or care.”  This suggests a positive value is placed on the one regarding the commandments.  He does not see the law and statutes of the word of God as something that will cramp his style or rob him of pleasure.  He sees the law as something which would please him.  He regards the law with an eye towards the blessings obedience and compliance brings.  I am what one might consider a frustrated golfer.  For years, I had a nasty splice.  That is when a right-handed golfer causes his ball to start straight, and then radically veer off to the right as though it took a ninety-degree turn.  My sons used to take me to the driving range just to watch and mock.  They took golfing lessons and all of them hit it straight.  But, did you think they would have tried to fix their old man’s slice?  The more they mocked, the worse it got.  I swung harder and faster only to have that ball go off on a WNW trajectory.  Laugh and laugh and laugh was all they did.  When we played a round of teams, no one wanted the old man.  I cannot figure out why.  I felt like the last kid to be picked for dodge ball.  Embarrassing.  Shameful.

The funny thing about golf is it has a way of drawing in the player to a passion for self-improvement.  When a player goes out on that golf course, he may have other people as competitors, but the greatest of all is himself.  He is driven (no pun intended) to get better.  He may have a look of shame on his face when he las lost the fourth ball in a row to a water hazard.  Yes, been there.  Done that!  All the while his son is rolling on the fairway in tears of laughter.  But over time, listening and learning, applying the laws of geometry and physics, low and behold the slice disappears.  Now, all of a sudden Dad isn’t the last one picked.  All of a sudden he is not losing nearing as many balls to the course’s right side.  No longer is he failing to contribute to his team’s success.  It took a passion to submit to rules that do not change.  The rules of physics and geometry.  It took the discipline of millions of strokes and hundreds of adjustments to finally learn what was there all along.  A simple alignment of grip was all that was needed.  Shame is a good thing.  But the law is far greater.  Want to live without shame?  Then learn to love God’s commandments.  Shame is a monster that can be avoided.

Strength To Impact

“Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” (Ps 71:18 AV)

 I know I have written of this before.  At least the first part of our verse.  As one gets older, there are new anxieties that flood the mind and heart.  They concern health, relationships, and provision.  When we were younger, we depended upon the LORD and ourselves.  As we age, we are no longer able to care for ourselves as we once did.  Our fears of abandonment are real.  Who will care enough to drop by?  Who will make sure the right decisions are made on our behalf?  How will I be able to pay my bills?  These, and many others, course through the mind.  We pray for the LORD’s faithfulness through all of this.  We desire Him to comfort our hearts that we might have the faith necessary to make it through our twilight years.  This was not David’s concern.  At least as stated above.  He was far more concerned that he leave wisdom to an up-and-coming generation before he passes and can no longer share what he knows.  We want the power of life (health) that he might be able to show the next generation the things of the LORD.  David was a shepherd until the end.  Always worried about the sheep more than himself.

My mom was like this.  My mother passed away from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  She was also a type two diabetic.  When she was going through her second to last round of treatments, we had a phone conversation.  She didn’t know what to do about the present round of treatments or if there were more to follow.  She was tired.  She was wore out.  Raising eleven kids and tending to the needs of a husband who was a bit particular would have weakened the strongest of us.  We had a conversation regarding end of life decisions.  She commented there were too many people who were depending on her for her to give up.  That is admirable.  That is the spirit which we should all have.  That is the attitude that David showed right up until the day he passed.  David had to solve the issue of Adonijah and Solomon only days before his home-going.  He was not concerned with his failing health.  He was not concerned with who would take care of him.  He was concerned with the kingdom and whether they would continue in the word of God.

Life will always have its problems, trials, and needs.  No matter the age, there will always be obstacles to overcome.  There is no such thing as a perfect life.  There will always be things that cause anxiety.  There will always be fears.  There will always be those sleepless nights.  There will always be those changes in life that knock us for a loop.  Right now, as I am leaving middle age and making my way to my older years, there are changes in life that come with it.  Changes I should have anticipated.  Changes for which I should have prepared myself.  Changes that are natural, but still a bit unnerving.  Purposes change.  Abilities diminish.  Resources are depleted at a faster rate.  All these things weigh on the mind.  They have since Adam and Eve aged.  There is nothing new here.  I am going through it, and so too will most other men.  It is a pattern of life.  The question becomes, what are my priorities?  Why is it that I want the LORD to be nearer than He ever has been before?  Is it because of all of these changes in life cause anxiety?  Or, like David, should I want the strength of the LORD because, like my Mother, I have people who depend on me and to whom I can impact?  That is the question for the rest of my life.

Our Condescending God

“Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” (Ps 113:5-6 AV)

 Our language has changed a bit since the LORD provided a perfect translation in the King James.  We would see the phrase above in a different light than it was intended.  The pure truth of this statement is God’s greatness compared with the nature of His creation.  He must condescend in order to interact with that which He has created.  That which He has created is not equal to Himself.  He must come down to it rather than we come up to Him.  In a sense, the understanding here is the LORD must interact with the limited so they can have a relationship with the Limitless.  This act of humiliation is not patronizing.  The word of God would use the word ‘pity’.  But again, it is not in the same sense we would use it today.  When we use these words this way, it has the meaning of condescending in a negative sort of way.  Absent of grace, it would be a subtle way of lording over a lesser person.  This is not what the truth above clearly teaches.  Rather, when the LORD humbles himself, it is with the attitude of grace and benevolence.

There are a couple of commercials that significantly touch my heart for a different reason for which they were aired.  There are the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital commercials and the Make A Wish Foundation commercials.  What strikes me more then the needs of the children pictured is the support staff who works with them.  The dedication it takes to work with cases such as these is remarkable.  But what impresses me even more than their dedication and work ethic is how they interact with those in deep need.  Being able to treat others with a deep need takes a gift. I’m not referring to the patience required.  I am no referring to the long hours that this calling requires.  I am not referring to the care which goes into this ministry.  What impresses me most is the way these healthcare workers can care for those in deep need while still respecting the patient’s dignity.  I see this in the nursing home all the time.  When I visit a patient there, most of the staff treat their clients with respect.  They do not talk down to them.  They do not converse as though they are a child.  They condescend to the needs of their patients and clients all the while still treating them with dignity, compassion, and respect.  It would be very easy to condescend to a child in need far below their maturity level.  But these health care workers do not.  The converse with them on their level.  They humble themselves for the purpose of ministry but do not do so in a patronizing way.

This is the understanding of the character of our God who condescends in compassion and mercy to interact with the souls whom He has created.  He doesn’t have to.  He is not obligated to.  He tells us to reason with Him.  Not that He might win and argument.  Rather, He desires the interaction that He might enjoy our companionship all the while being a blessing to the ones whom He has created.  Our God deserves all the praise and glory due His name.  He would be within His rights to patronize us.  He would be well within His nature to treat that which He has created any way he pleases.  All one has to notice is the majesty of the animal kingdom to realize we have a Creator with a heart towards that which He has created.  He did not create to manipulate, humiliate, torture, or destroy.  He created to glorify the greatness of who and what He is.  Who and what He is a merciful, kind, compassionate, and intellectual God who desires to humble Himself that He might know the souls whom He has created.

Our Perfect Intercessor

“And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.” (1Ch 28:18 AV)

 The altar of incense was to burn with incense as the priests offered prayers for the people.  The prayers of the people would rise with the smoke upward to heaven.  It was a beautiful reminder of the reality of prayer.  Something that is easy to forget.  We pray.  But we do not always remember our conversation is directional towards heaven.  Our prayers go upward.  The ascend to the throne of God on high.  This is something to keep in the forefront of our minds lest our prayers become nothing more than introspection.  Meditation of our needs or cares within our own hearts.  There is something to be said for a visual reminder.  That is not our consideration this morning.  What we want to consider is this altar had refined gold as its covering.  Not even the ark had refined gold.  This piece of furniture is the only item within the tabernacle which possessed refined gold.  In fact, the word doesn’t appear in all of the scriptures outside of seven times.  This passage is the only time the word is used in reference to gold as a building material.  That leads us to believe the gold of the altar of incense is a special gold unique to the altar itself.

The pieces of furniture and the tabernacle itself was a pattern.  According to Hebrews, it was all a pattern of the ministry of Christ to His creation.  The ministry of incarnation, reconciliation, and intercession.  When we look at the altar of incense, we are looking at the intercessory work of our Savior and His Spirit as they both implore the Father on our behalf.  Our prayers must be pure and without pretense.  No flaws and with nothing added.  This conversation we have with the Father is impossible.  At least on our behalf and with only our abilities as the means to accomplish this.  Like the priest who offered to incense on the altar, our part is very little.  The fire provided was provided by God from heaven.  The recipe for the incense was provided by God.  The gold was created by God.  It may have been refined by man, but the gold itself came from the Creator.  The means by which the smoke ascended was created by God.  All the priests did was place the incense upon the altar with the fire provided by God and the prayers went up.

But we want to note the gold was refined.  Unlike the gold on any other piece, this gold was extra pure.  It was tried by fire.  The fire of affliction.  The fire of obedience.  The fire of sacrifice.  This gold represents our glorified Savior who went through the fire of God’s wrath that we might be saved.   There is a specific amount of gold.  The workman could not embellish or add thereto.  It was by weight.  When we stop and think of the intercessor work of the Savior and the Spirit, we are humbled.  We are told to approach the throne of grace boldly.  That does not mean we go alone.  The altar of incense was the foundation upon which the saint’s prayers were offered.  There was nothing of himself that was placed on that altar outside of the request itself.  The gold was extra pure.  Our glorified intercessor is extra pure.  There is nothing more that can be added to Him.  He is all we need.  We need not embellish our prayers.  We need not put on a front that is not real.  We need not come with a spirit that is insincere.  The Altar is the foundation for our prayers.  It is He and the Spirit that goes with us to the throne of God that we might have boldness in the time of need.  We are not worthy to approach the throne of God.  But there is One that is.  And He is refined.  Like no other, He is absolutely perfect in every way.  That is why our prayers come unto the Father.

If You Know Where to Look

“The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Ps 145:8-9 kjb)

We live in a negative world.  We see the effects of sin all around us.  Just the other day, I read a story of a young lady who almost saved a victim of Jeffery Dahmer.  Mr. Dahmer, whom I believe was the Devil incarnate, killed and ate many victims.  The story went on to tell how one of his victims escaped and ran into the arms of the writer of the story.  As a seventeen-year-old teenager, she tried to warn police of the evil of this man, but they wouldn’t listen.  They returned this naked victim to Jeffery believing the two were in a mutual relationship.  The thing is, this all occurred in the city which I now call home.  Evil is all around us.  We see it every day.  Not just crime.  We see immorality.  We see drug use.  On my own street, there are two bars but a stone's throw from my house.  It is not out of the ordinary to converse with a drunk who is on his way home from binge drinking.  We read of shootings, car accidents, and now, pestilence.  We turn on the news and hear nothing but negative reporting.  Most of it driven by dishonest media sympathetic to its own agenda.  We are hammered by one unfortunate story after another.  It is easy to forget that God’s grace still shines upon that which He has created.

God is good, all the time.  We just need to look for His blessings.  Each morning, around 4:45 – 5:00, there is a bird that sings outside our bedroom window.  A few mornings ago, my wife and I were not sleeping well and we both woke up to the signing of that bird.  We had opposite reactions.  I love the morning woods.  There is nothing more relaxing to me than to hear and see the morning woods wake up before the heat of the day quiets the wilderness.  As a turkey hunter, there were many mornings I sat under a tree beginning at 4:00 am and watched the sun come up.  Before there is enough light to read words off the page of a book, the birds begin their day.  They are out, getting the earthworms who have not retreated below ground.  They call out to one another.  They call out to prospective mates.  Then there are the cardinals who call back and forth outside my house.  Usually, they do so in the evening.  My dog and I go out so that he can do his business, but while we are out there, we hear the cardinals calling back and forth.  My wife?  She rolls over and says, “I’m gonna shoot that bird!  He wakes me up every morning.”  The blessings of God are there.  You just have to know how to look for them.

David shares his impression of the mercies of God as he pens, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.” (Ps 103:13 KJB)  We forget that our fathers care for us.  We see him primarily as an authority figure who lays down the law then lays down those who do not follow the law.  We forget the father that taught us and disciplined us also spent time with us as we fished or went to a ball game.  The father that corrected us was also the father that protected us.  The father that sent us to our room was also the father that took us out for a movie and an ice cream.  We fail to see the LORD as a God who is tender and merciful because we are not acclimated to look for it.  We fail to see the grace of life because the trials of life seem bigger.  We fail to see the provisions of life because we notice our needs far quicker.  We fail to hear the words of encouragement and pleasure because we are so focused on our failures.  We are blind to the blessings of life because we are murmuring too much at the curses.  God is good.  All the time.  His tender mercies are all around us.  This is what David said and he didn’t lie.  If we do not believe it, it is because we cannot see it.  We cannot see it because we are not looking for it.  Those mercies are there whether we acknowledge them or not.  It is time to notice the sunrise rather than the storm clouds.  His mercies are there!

Good News From Afar

“As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” (Pr 25:25 AV)

The further from where good news comes, the more refreshing it is.  I don’t know why that is, but it is true.  I have three sons.  Two are in the ministry and one will be short.  What this means is the likelihood we will be separated by distances as we seek the LORD’s will.  My youngest is nine hours away.  My middle is a twelve-hour flight away.  And my oldest, who is the closest, is about three hours away.  However, when the LORD sees fit to place him in ministry, he too will be hours away.  My youngest is getting ready to have our fifth grandchild.  Well, actually, it is my daughter-in-law who is having the baby.  Josh is along for the ride.  Because of complications around COVID 19, we cannot be there when our newest grandchild comes into the world.  We cannot be in the waiting room when the doctor comes out to tell us everything went fine.  But we will be anxiously waiting by our phones when our son calls to tell us the good news.  I wonder.  Which will be sweeter?  My wife and I would love to be there when this young man arrives.  But we cannot.  Knowing this, the news will be all the sweeter when it comes over the invisible stratosphere.

When I was in middle school (6^th-8^th grade) our teachers gave us a list of kids our own age from another country to which we would correspond.  When I took French in my freshman year of high school, we also were assigned a penpal.  The idea was to interact with kids our own age for the purpose of exposure to different cultures and languages.  My father had a heartbeat for exchange students and scouts.  That is when a young person would come to spend a summer or year with an American family.  They would return home with an understanding of what the United States was all about.  Correspondence back and forth often followed.  This correspondence had a unique envelope.  It was actually stationary that folded into an envelope.  This parcel had a unique color and markings.  Especially around the edges.  By a quick glance, one could tell it was airmail from another part of the world.  It was the only reason a budding teenager would check the mailbox.  The ads, bills, and newspapers didn’t mean anything.  But if you saw one of those international letters with your name on it, there was a skip in one’s step. I used to keep all the ones I received.   Over the year, I have lost mine.  These letters were special.  More so than anything we would learn at home.  The news and correspondence was the best thing that would ever come across our eyes.

We have good news from a far country.  Yet we make little use of it.  It’s called the Bible.  The LORD’s letter to us was sent many thousand years ago.  It sits in our homes and one our shelves rarely read through in its entirety.  We hear enough bad news at home.  Wars and rumors of wars.  Pestilence.  Famine.  Economic collapse.  Political insurrection.  Crime.  Tragedy.  It goes on and on.  There is no hope for this world outside of Jesus Christ.  We know more about what Fox News says than we do the prophet, Isaiah.  We know more about what Breitbart News writes than we do the Apostle Paul.  We know more about what the radio talk shows blare than we do the Sermon on the Mount.  Our hope is not in the world.  Our hope comes from a far country.  It comes from our eternal home.  Our news is trumpeted to any and all who will heed the gospel.  The good news follows tragedy.  Because it is all good in the end.  So, turn off the TV, ignore the news websites, and unplug the radio.  Rather, spend quality time in the word of God to quench that thirsty soul.  It is the only way it can be.

For Your Eyes Only

“Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.” (Pr 24:32 AV)

Here’s a man that doesn’t let an observation go to waste.  This is perhaps an aspect of the wisdom which the LORD bestowed upon our brother Solomon.  Wisdom learns.  Wisdom adapts.  Wisdom applies.  Wisdom studies.  This is more than mere academics.  When we talk of study, we do not mean the simple ascertaining of facts for the purpose of curiosity.  No.  That to which Solomon is referring is observing, meditating, and applying for the express purpose of being a better person.  In context, he is referring to the poor judgment of another.  He considers the condition of a field that is neglected and the ramification of lost profit and increased labor.  He allows his observations to speak to him.  Not for the purpose of condemning others for their poor judgment, but rather, as a means to critique himself.

To give a comparison, imagine an academic who studies something we would consider such a specialty it would puzzle us as to why someone would no so much about such a subject.  Every once in a while, by some TV program or article I read, this strikes me as odd.  A student who may be doing their doctoral theses on the growth of tooth enamel on indigenous rats of the European suburbs.  Really?  What would possess someone to be super interested in rat enamel?  But there probably is some grad student as we speak who knows everything there is to know about vermin teeth.  He watches and observes.  He does lab experiments with different diets and environmental factors.  All this just because he is curious.  He sees it.  He considers it.  But is it wisdom?  Or is it academics?  However, if in his investigations he discovers a behavior of the rat that reveals how the rat’s teeth are made stronger which can be applied to his own oral hygiene, this shows wisdom.  He observes the routine a rat may go through to care for his incisors and finds a flaw in his own practice.  This is an observation that makes a difference.

We have the ability, unlike almost all other creatures, to learn from the actions of others.  At least we learn by reason and deduction.  God made us this way.  However, we go about life and see what we see without taking the time to meditate upon and apply what we see.  We see both positive and negative.  We see a child being pushed on a swing by a new father and notice he is a bit unsafe in the altitude he has chosen.  We make a judgment.  But how does that affect our lives?  We notice a careful mother who chooses to take her child out of the shopping cart first, buckle him in, and lock the doors.  Then she goes back to unload her buggy.  We notice someone on a ladder that is set too steep.  We notice someone doing a task in a bit of a different way than we would and realize it was a smarter way to accomplish the same end.  Observation is a powerful tool the LORD gave us at birth.  Yet, we are too busy or to self-reliant to allow the successes and failures of others to be our teacher.  Jeremiah was another like Solomon.  He never let an observation go to waste.  Everything is a curiosity.  Not for the mere fact of gathering facts, but to examine one’s own ways and thinking, to make changes as needed.  So, slow down.  Open your eyes and ears.  Every experience is a learning experience.  Not just consider it.  Consider it well.

No Time To Coast

“What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?” (Ps 30:9 AV)

David utters this towards the end of his life.  He has about five or six years left.  He may not know exactly how much time he has, but he is aware life is winding down.  He also writes this upon reflection of Solomon’s role as his successor.  He writes this after compiling all the materials necessary to build the temple.  This utterance us David’s reflection of limited time in which to serve the LORD.  He writes this knowing opportunities are beginning to become less and less.  It doesn’t sound to me like David wants to retire anytime soon.  He wants to go out with a  bang.  Not a fizzle.  He sees his life coming to a close as an unfortunate reality rather than anticipation.  David knows there are so many days in a week, weeks in a month, months in a year, and years in a lifetime.  Once his life is over, there will be no more opportunity to affect the world with the kingdom of Christ.  No more souls to touch.  No more battles to wage.  No more buildings to erect.  All, for him at least, will be over.

There were a lot of lessons I learned while laboring in the factory.  I worked in a factory that manufactured foam plates and plastic food service containers.  The vast majority of my time there I worked in the department that made nine and ten-inch foam plates.  When the operator arrives, he looks at the schedule and production schedule to see who he has working with him and what they are to produce.  This is so important because your lot might change mid-shift.  The schedule might call for a change over from non-laminated to laminated.  Or from white to beige.  There might be a change over to our name brand to the generic equivalent.  At any rate, by doing a simple calculation, one can tell when that change over might occur.  It might occur during your shift.  Or it may be into the next.  Depending on one’s work ethic, a plan is formulated as to how to either get the current run done or take one’s time.  It all depended on how industrious the team was and what their priorities were.  If they wanted to coast the last hour, they would have a few shut-downs during the shift so the run was complete just shy of quitting time.  That way, the team could clean up and stand around for the last half-hour.  But, if the operator and his team had a good work ethic, they would do their dead-level best no matter when the changeover occurred.  They would go one hundred percent until the job was done.  There would be no coasting.

This verse speaks volumes to me.  As someone who is living through his middle-aged years, I am staring at the twilight as it quickly approaches.  I can react in one of two ways.  I can look forward to my last years as one of rest.  Or, I can lament I have but a few left in which to serve the LORD before mankind.  I can either look for a retirement home where I can live out my life playing putt-putt, or seek as many opportunities to share my faith by serving in the church.  I can either waste away my days sipping lemonade, or I can visit with other believers who need encouragement and prayer.  I am not there yet.  I have a few decades, at the most, in which I can still actively serve in the calling for which God created me.  There is never a time to coast.  There are always runs to be completed.  The warehouse can never be full.  Even if we have slowed down a bit, there is still some task to do.  Some battles remain.  I may not be able to keep pace with those half my age, but I can at least keep some sort of pace.  Part of this tired saint wants to rest.  He wants to graduate to glory.  But another part of me wants to accomplish that which remains to be done.  My prayer is the desire never wanes.  Like David, I need to see opportunity is limited.  I need to see that once this life is past, there will be no more building blocks to lay.  Now is the time!  It is always the time!

Why The Proverbs?

“That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” (Pr 22:19-21 AV)

When we teach and preach the book of Proverbs, we often teach it apart from faith.  Or, put another way, we expound the principles of the book of Proverbs as general rules of life meant to protect us and bless us.  Here, Solomon says his reason is to build trust in the LORD.  As his children see the principles play out in life, they can grow in the knowledge there are absolutes set forth by God that do not change.  Their reasoning will lead them to conclude if the principles of practical life as taught by their father’s proverbs are true, then all of the word of God is true.  Life’s experiences are pointing us to faith in the LORD.  This is Solomon’s point here.  As the certainty of the words of truth is proven, the Creator who revealed them all is also made certain.  Then, having realized the nature of truth, the child comes to a conclusion God exists and He can be trusted.  Just as the absolute nature of wisdom can be trusted, so too can the God who is wisdom Himself.  This is the greatest truth of the book of Proverbs.

Learning to drive in inclement weather was an adventure.  I grew up in one of the snowiest areas of the contiguous United States.  I grew up in Western New York.  I grew up where we don’t bother measuring snowfall in inches.  Only feet.  Learning to drive is as much about learning your vehicle’s abilities and limitations as it is the conditions in which you are driving.  Driving a rear-wheel-drive standard transmission quarter ton pick up is much different than driving a full-size station wagon.  There were practical things to consider.  I prefer driving a manual transmission or the new automatic transmission with the ability to downshift than I did the older automatic transmission vehicles.  On slippery conditions, downshifting helps tremendously in coming to a safe stop.  The weight of the vehicle can be a plus or minus depending on the amount of snowfall.  Getting unstuck is always an adventure and a skill one must learn.  At the beginning of my learning curve, it was white knuckles most of the time.  However, as I gained more experience, I learned to trust the vehicle and what it was capable of doing.  Learning the practical aspects of one’s journey goes a long way in trusting the means of getting there.

Solomon desires for his children to have the most blessed life possible.  That would depend on the choices they make.  However, as his next book will try to teach, even if we do everything right, if there is no relationship with God, then it is still pointless.  Wisdom is for our benefit.  Wisdom is truth applied.  Because God is truth, one cannot escape the conclusion that learning and applying truth in the form of wisdom naturally results in a relationship with God based on reasoned faith.  This is the great lesson of the book of Proverbs.  It is not enough to make good choices if those good choices don’t also result in increased faith.  Like learning to drive in inclement weather, once a set of circumstances is mastered, another comes along.  One must learn to trust what one has experienced and apply more wisdom.  God gives wisdom.  Not so that we can hoard it and enjoy life to its fullest.  Rather, so that we can grow and learn to trust in more truth.  Or better yet, learn to trust in the God of truth.

For A Lifetime

“And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:” (2Sa 22:1 AV)

David wrote this at the death of Absalom.  This was about five or six years before David’s death.  In other words, David spent his entire life battling those who wanted to harm him.  From the time he was ordained until the time he laid hands on Solomon as his successor, there wasn’t a year that went by which did not require David to fight some kind of battle.  This truth of life is the same for the New Testament saint.  When we accepted Christ, we entered a battle that will last a lifetime.  Paul writes his protégé Timothy, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” (2Ti 4:7 KJB)  He writes this to Timothy at the end of his life, not the beginning or middle.  In our pursuit of a peaceful and tranquil life, we often forget our life is full of struggle that will never go away.  At least not until eternity.  David was successful in life because he submitted to this reality.  He didn’t try to change it.  Other than the heathen, David didn’t go looking for a fight.  The fight came to him.  David chooses to engage the battle, whether he went to it, or it came to him.  This was a choice for a lifetime.  A choice that served him well.

One of the traps a laborer can succumb to working in the factory is living with the status quo.  Even if things can be improved upon, there is something to be said for punching in, doing your job the same way it’s been done for decades, then punching out and going home.  Even if there are major improvements that could be made, we get stuck in our rut and don’t want to exert energy towards change.  Working in a factory for almost a decade, one of the meetings we dreaded the most was our Monday meetings with the middle managers.  We knew there would be some policy or procedure change.  Mostly very slight ones.  The majority of the workforce believed they made a change just to keep their jobs relevant.  However, for the most part, these changes were improvements in policy or procedure.  Sometimes they saved us work.  Sometimes they added to the work already required.  I remember when management required we triple our quality checks.  How annoying.  We were required because there were complaints from our customers over slacking product standards and quality.  We became lax in our duties which required more work.  Whether we liked it or not, to stay in business and keep our customers (plus adding new ones), constant critique and change was the policy of the company.  Pretty much, this is standard in all business.  There is always a fight to fight.  Always a wrong to right.  Always a good thing to improve.

If you are like me, you understand that fighting all the time is tiring.  We get burned out.  All we want is a secluded island somewhere with a small little hut, a hammock, and a view of the ocean in all directions.  We want a week or two of nothing but the sound of lapping water, the cool breeze, and warm sun, and sipping ice-cold freshwater from a tall crystal clear glass.  We want the rest well deserved at the end of the battle.  We feel like the sitcom M*A*S*H*.  A sitcom that ran well over a decade which depicted a war that only spanned three years.  Because of the intensity of the battle, we wonder if it will ever end.  At the conclusion of his life, David rested.  Until the, he fought.  He fought with everything he had.  He leaned on his Rock.  He held faith in God like a sword that never departed.  He embraced the struggle even though he would do anything if it could have been avoided.  From Goliath to Absalom, David engaged the struggle.  He committed to that which the LORD had ordained for him.  He may not have liked it.  It may have dragged him down further than he thought he could survive.  But survive he did.  He more than survived.  He flourished.  It is this characteristic that sets David above all others.  It is why he was called the apple of God’s eye.  It is why Israel, to this day, still loves David.  He was a soldier’s soldier.  He never quit.  He never asked to be relieved.  He stayed in the battle for as long as there was one to fight.  This is what the saint needs to do.  He needs to determine to stay engaged for as long as there is breath in his lungs.  Then and only then can he embrace his eternal rest.