In step

[RiverOL]

Yours trustingly

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 11:25-31

"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall '" (v.28)

What have we been saying about the important issue of trust? Trust is an essential ingredient in our relationships - both human and divine. The reason we can demonstrate trust in all our earthly relationships is because we recognize that there is One who is governing our lives.

We can give ourselves to others knowing that even though they let us down He will hold us in His arms and not allow us to be destroyed.

Notice carefully what I say here, because many Christians hold God to promises He never made and then get disappointed when He doesn't come through for them. God does not promise to keep us from being hurt in our relationships, but He does promise to keep us from being destroyed. The more you trust in God, the more effective you will be in your relationships with others.

Because your ultimate trust is in God, you will be free from unconscious manipulative techniques and, drawing your security from Him, you can give yourself more freely to others. "Love does not begin," someone has said, "until you expect nothing in return." When your trust is wholly in the Lord, you can love like that.

If you have never done so before, decide now to put in God's hands all the hurts and betrayals of the past. Forgive all those who have let you down. Lift up your head and look into the face of the One who will never betray you.

Give Him all your trust. And, I say again, keep in mind that trust is not only an essential posture of life; it is the first step in wisdom. The wise are those who trust.

Prayer:
O God, break down any last barrier that may be hindering me from putting my trust fully in You. I would have the doors of my spirit turn out, not in. Help me begin and end every day by saying, "Yours trustingly." In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Another pillar of wisdom

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 10:9-17

"The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out." (v.9)

We turn now to look at what I consider to be the second pillar of wisdom - integrity. This theme, like trust, is one that is continually emphasised in Proverbs for, as we shall see, no one can be truly successful in life without integrity.

The dictionary defines integrity as: "wholeness, soundness, trustworthiness, uprightness, honesty."

You can see at once that there is a moral quantity about integrity and that morality is an essential characteristic of wisdom. One of the mistakes many people make when thinking about wisdom is to confuse it with learning, intelligence, brilliance or cleverness.

How many times do we read in our newspapers of those who have climbed the ladder of success, have been highly educated or have achieved great prominence in the world, only to see them come tumbling down because of some moral indiscretion? Many professional people have a great deal of knowledge but lack wisdom.

For example, you see this in the marriage counselor who, in spite of all his credentials, can't hold his own marriage together; in the economist who goes bankrupt playing the stock market; in the preacher who shocks his congregation by running off with a young woman.

Learning, understanding, intelligence and professional training are important - dont hear me demean them - but if we are to be experts in the art of living, as Proverbs sets out to teach us, then we must see that without wisdom the things I have listed don't count for too much. "The simplicity of integrity is the profundity of wisdom," says Paul Larsen. How true! How very true!

Prayer:
O God, give me, in addition to trust, a high degree of integrity. I want not only to trust others but I want them to trust me. You know my need and also my desire. Grant me these facets of wisdom. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

I would rather be right

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 8:1-11

"For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her" (v.11)

We continue with the thought that another aspect of wisdom is integrity. Both the universe and we are alien to untruth and dishonesty. The universe is made for the same thing we are made for - righteousness.

Not only the face of the Lord, but the face of the universe, is set against those who try to go some other way. No scientist can get very far without integrity.

If he tampers with the laws that govern the universe, then he comes out looking foolish. He must sit down before the facts of the universe, and if he is to be successful, whatever he does has to be based on a prior commitment to honor and truthfulness. Without integrity, all learning becomes evil.

Charles Spurgeon wrote to the then Prime Minister of Britain, William Gladstone, in these words: "You do not know how those of us regard you who feel it a joy to live when a Prime Minister believes in righteousness. We believe in no man's infallibility but it is restful to be sure of one man's integrity."

What makes us so suspicious of politicians, even though politics can be a noble profession, is not that they might make some mistakes, but that sometimes staying in office is more important to them than honor and candor.

Henry Clay, when about to introduce to the American Congress a bill that was heavily weighted in favor of morality, was told, "If you do this, it will kill your chances of becoming president." His reply was, "I would rather be right than be president." I can almost see King Solomon's head nodding in favor of that.

 

[RiverOL]

The worst thing

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 28:18-28

"He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall." (v.18)

We said yesterday that both we and the universe are made for integrity and that both the universe and we are alien to untruth and dishonesty. The whole thrust of the universe which God designed and created is simple, uncomplicated, and built on truth.

There are great mysteries, of course, but no lies. Scientific laws are upheld by truth. Gravity, for example, will not lie; it is as true in one country as it is in another, as reliable in Jerusalem as it is in Japan.

It has often been pointed out that the word "evil" is the word "live" spelled backwards. Satan delights to take what God does and try to reverse it - to move life in the opposite way to that in which it was designed to go. Satan is a liar (John 8:44), and lies are always roundabout, complicated and deceiving.

The fact that the universe is built on truth can be verified by the simple device known as a "lie detector." The lie detector test works on the basis that people who tell lies and know they are telling lies become extremely anxious and uncomfortable, and this anxiety is then picked up by the machine.

But why does telling a lie make a person anxious? Because we are built for truth, and any departure from it registers on the inside in a way that can be picked up on the outside.

A lie detector is not infallible and can sometimes (though not often) be fooled. But what cannot be fooled is the soul of the person who is lying. The worst thing about being a liar is to be the person telling the lie.

Prayer:
Father, help me lay hold of the fact that a lie demeans me, but the truth develops me. I cannot live successfully by a lie any more than I can fling myself out of the window and defy gravity. May I be a person of truth. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Can a lie be justified?

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 19:1-9

"A false witness will not go unpunished and he who pours out lies will perish." (v.9)

Will the universe sustain a lie? Today the Church is being inundated with a philosophy called "situational ethics" which would have us believe that sometimes a lie can be right. I think that is a deadly and diabolical doctrine.

A lie is never right - no matter what attempts we might make to justify it. "God is not a man, that he should lie," says the Scripture in Numbers 23:19, and in 1 John 2:21 we read, "' no lie comes from the truth." God cannot lie and He will never delegate to you the task of lying for Him.

When we take dishonesties into our lives we take fire into our lives - here and hereafter: "' all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone" (Rev. 21:8, NKJV).

"Situational ethics" proponents come up with all kinds of possible scenarios, such as: "What if someone came to your house to murder a member of your family and asked if that person was in.

Would it not be right to lie in those circumstances?" Can you see the thrust of this question? It is the argument, "This is what we ought to do because it makes sense." But once we view sin as an "ought," it is magically turned into something that is "good." The Bible does not teach that anyone in any situation ought to sin.

1 Corinthians 10:13 teaches that because God is faithful, we will never find ourselves in a situation where we must sin, but there will always be a way of escape. God never calls upon us to break one of His laws in order to keep another.

Prayer:
O Father, in a world that seems to be always looking for excuses and exceptions, help me to steer my life by the clear statements of Your revealed will. I dont want to measure up to exceptions; I want to conform to the rules - Your rules. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Two important facts

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 6:12-19

"There are six things the Lord hates ' a false witness who pours out lies '" (vv.16, 19)

We return to the question we raised yesterday: What if someone came to your house to murder a member of your family and asked if that person was in? Would it not be right to lie in such circumstances?

The "situational ethics" people would say "Yes." The Bible, in my opinion, says, "No." Situational ethics is notorious for coming up with hypothetical situations in which a person must sin because that is what ought to be done. But once we view sin as a "must" and an "ought," we are finished.

A Christian view of ethics rejects every constructed situation which the situational ethics people advance because it fails to take into account two important biblical facts. First - God's sovereignty. God will always make a way for His people to avoid sinning. Second - the Holy Spirit's power.

The believer is encouraged not to worry about what to say in difficult situations. "At that time you will be given what to say" (Matt. 10:19). Also, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov. 3:5).

God is not ignorant or stupid. He did not fail to see that sometimes His laws would seem to contradict one another. He knew full well that there would be occasions when it might seem prudent from a human point of view to violate one of His principles, hence His promise to us in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Those who try to excuse the breaking of any of God's moral laws on the pretext that it feels "right" or seems "good" sow the seeds of disruption in their own inner being. It is not the way of wisdom.

Prayer:
Father, Forgive us that so often we prefer human wisdom to divine wisdom simply because it "feels" right. Help us to trust Your Word even when it runs counter to our own feelings. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Dishonesty is doomed

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 14:1-13

"A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies." (v.5)

We need to fix it as an axiom in our thinking that nobody ever gets away with anything, anywhere, at any time, if that "anything" is dishonest or untrue. The whole history of humanity is a commentary on this.

The first lie, uttered by Satan in the Garden of Eden, was this: "You will not surely die" (Gen. 3:4). And he keeps repeating that well-worn but discredited lie to every man and woman who comes into this world. Something dies the moment you are dishonest or fail to be a person of integrity. Self-respect dies within you. Death begins to eat away at your heart the moment dishonesty comes in.

You are not so much punished for your sin. You are punished by sin for sin. In one sense, sin is its own punishment. "Dishonesty puts sand in the machinery of life," says one writer.

I would add: "And honesty and integrity put in oil." We can choose to live with sand, or oil, in our inner mechanism. I cannot say whether or not I would ever lie.

I would like to think not - but I am fallible and human. I know this, however: my moral joints will creak if I am dishonest. I am made for integrity and I will not function well without it.

Prayer:
O Father, help me grasp this simple but important fact - I am designed in my inner being for truth and honesty. When I work with truth, I go leaping into life. When I work without it, I limp. Drive this truth deep into my being. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Truth is truth is truth

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 30:1-9

"Keep falsehood and lies far from me '" (v.8)

In today's world integrity is in short supply. I asked a successful businessman: "What would you say is the greatest need in your field of business?" He thought for a moment, looked me straight in the eye and said, "Integrity."

I asked him why, and he said, "Almost daily I am faced with dishonesty and duplicity and whenever I confront it people take the view that dishonesty is only a problem when it is found out." It's interesting, however, that those who laugh at dishonesty get deeply upset when they are victims of it. I caught sight of this statement in one of my grandson's books: "An honest fisherman is a pretty uninteresting person."

Another statement said, "There are two things essential if you are to succeed in business - integrity and sagacity. Integrity is keeping your word and sagacity is never giving your word." Is it any wonder that our young people find situational ethics so appealing?

It is only fair to say, though, that despite the present-day trend away from honesty and integrity, there are still millions of people who would not claim to be Christians but nevertheless see it as their task to be honest, upright and decent.

May their tribe increase! Christians who lack integrity hinder the progress of the gospel in this world and set the Christian message in a false light. Determine to be honest in thought and speech and act.

Lay this down as a cornerstone of your life, especially you who are young, and begin building from there. Whatever you do, shun like a plague the teachings of the situational ethics people and admit no exceptions. Truth is truth is truth.

Prayer:
O God, You who are the Designer of the Great Design, help me to fit into it, mold my life by it and be fully surrendered to its purposes. If I run from truth, I run from myself, for I am made for truth. Keep me true, dear Lord. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Self-exploratory surgery

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 23:15-25

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding." (v.23)

Charles Swindoll tells how many years ago in New York a doctor by the name of Evan O'Neill became convinced that most major operations could be performed while patients were under a local anesthetic, thereby avoiding the risks of general anesthesia.

On February 15th, 1921, he operated on himself and removed his appendix while under a local anesthetic. The operation was a success and it was said that he recovered faster than usually expected of patients who given general anesthesia.

Today I invite you to undertake some self-exploratory surgery of the soul. While fully conscious and fully aware, allow the Holy Spirit to assist you by handing you the only instrument you need for soul surgery - the germ-free scalpel of Scripture. "The word of God is living and active.

Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Heb. 4:12). This is not just an interesting idea, it is a required command of Scripture: "But let a man examine himself '" (1 Cor. 11:28, NKJV).

In God's presence right now, ask yourself: Am I honest? Am I a person of integrity? Can my word be trusted? Remember, only you can do this surgery on your soul - only you.

No one else but you knows the truth about yourself. You can rationalize and twist the facts and no one will know the difference - except you. And remember, too, there can be no wisdom without morality, no expertise in living without truth and honesty. The wise are those who have integrity.

Prayer:
Father, I realize that when truth is not within me there is as much pain as with a diseased appendix. Help me see this tension as Your protest. By Your Word, and through Your Spirit, right now cut away in me all that is untrue and dishonest. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Honeysuckle Christians

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 11:25-31

"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." (v.25)

We come now to what I consider to be a third pillar of wisdom - generosity. This subject, too, is a favorite theme of Proverbs. Today's text tells us that when we move out of ourselves and give to others, we too are refreshed.

An old Welsh proverb says: "The greatest joy in giving is to be the one who gives." We must not take this to mean that we ought to focus on generosity because it brings rewards.

Generosity that is exercized simply for the purpose of reward is not generosity. The reward comes as a by-product of giving. I have heard those who study questions of right and wrong pull today's text to pieces.

They say that this (and similar statements found in the Word of God) make Christianity a form of sophisticated selfishness. Christians, they say, give to others because it makes them feel good, not because it is the right way to live. Christianity, they conclude, is an indirect form of selfishness.

Well, we must admit that some Christians might look at things in this way but I imagine they are few and far between. I love the way Charles Harthern, a preacher of a bygone generation, described giving: "Some give like sponges - only when they are squeezed. Some give like Moses' rock - only when they are hit.

True Christians, however, give like the honeysuckle - because they delight to give." That's the secret - giving because one delights to give. The generous hand must comes from a generous heart. If the heart is not generous, then however much the hand gives, there is no true generosity.

Prayer:
Gracious and loving heavenly Father, I ask for the blessing, not only of trust and integrity, but of generosity also. And I ask not just to get a blessing, but to give a blessing. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Divine mathematics

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 11:16-24

"One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another with holds unduly, but comes to poverty." (v.24)

What all the passages in Proverbs which talk about generosity are really teaching us is that selfishness short-circuits human happiness and that the route to joy is liberality - liberality with our talents, our treasure and our time.

Today's text is, of course, difficult for some to accept because it violates all the rules of mathematics. How can it be that the more you give away the more you have? It doesnt seem logical! Well, let Lord Bertrand Russell, one of the greatest mathematicians of the century, comment on that: "Mathematics and logic have nothing to do with reality."

David Rivett, a chartered accountant and one of the directors of CWR - Crusade for World Revival - says that since he has been with the organization he has found that God has a quite different arithmetic from what he as an accountant has been used to. For example - what do five and two make? Seven? Yes, in man's arithmetic, but not in God's. In God's arithmetic five and two make five thousand.

How come? Well, five loaves and two fish - the little lunch which a boy once gave to Jesus - was taken by Him and turned into enough food to feed five thousand. And just to add to the point - twelve baskets of fragments were gathered up after everyone had eaten their fill!

Nature, we are told, abhors a vacuum; it is the same in the spiritual realm. Liberality and generosity create a vacuum into which God flows, enabling us to give and to go on giving. I cannot explain it, but I have seen it happen again and again.

Prayer:
O God, You who are always reaching out to me in generosity and love, help me this day to do the same. May You use my generosity to touch the lives of others. For Your own dear Name's sake. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Giving with a warm hand

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 22:1-9

"A generous man will himself be blessed '" (v.9)

Does being a generous person mean you will always have plenty to give away? Not necessarily. This would be a naive interpretation of the principle we are discussing. Certain other texts of Scripture have to be laid against these verses in Proverbs if we are to get a more complete picture of the truth under discussion.

Some Christians cannot be trusted with a lot of money or earthly goods; they just would not know how to manage them. That said, it needs to be noted that you do not have to be rich to be generous. A pauper can give like a prince, providing he or she has the right spirit.

An old Jewish saying puts it like this: "The man who gives with a smile gives more than the man who gives with a frown." It is the spirit of generosity that the Bible focuses on first of all - the spirit that gives, not because it wants to get but because it simply delights to give. Someone has defined generosity as "giving with a warm hand." I like that. Who likes to receive anything from a cold hand?

As you know, the opposite of generosity is selfishness, and just as generosity is a facet of wisdom, so selfishness is a facet of foolishness. A teacher said to a class: "Unselfishness means voluntarily going without something you need.

Can anyone give me an example?" A little boy raised his hand and said: "Yes, sometimes I go without a bath even though I need one." We smile, but how many of us do the same thing and turn a truth on its head to take the pressure off ourselves?

Prayer:
O God, help me to be a person who gives "with a warm hand." Melt any coldness and iciness there may be in my spirit and make me a magnanimous and generous person. Fire me with a passion to give. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

The generous eye

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 28:18-28

"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing '" (v.27)

We continue meditating on the subject of generosity. Not only Proverbs, but the Bible as a whole has a good deal to say on this subject, and one of the most powerful statements is made by Jesus in Matthew 6:22.

Here is how Moffatt translates this fascinating and intriguing text: "' if your Eye is generous, the whole of your body will be illumined." "If your Eye" - that means your whole outlook on life, your whole way of looking at things - is generous, then your whole personality is filled with light.

Jesus was generous toward all - the poor, the meek, the sinful, the unlovely - and His whole personality was full of light. When we are in touch with Jesus, the fount of all wisdom, then He generates that same generosity within us. We begin to see everyone and everything with the same generous eye.

It is generosity that is at the heart of all good relationships. I have visited Sweden and Norway on many occasions and I often used to wonder why it is that the Swedes and the Norwegians have such brotherliness toward each other.

They seem to have an unbreakable bond that ties them as one people. Then I discovered that many years ago, when Norway wanted to break free from Swedish control, the Swedish people responded to this - responded according to the Christian ethos that was behind the then ruling family.

This generosity in giving freedom without war or bitterness created a basic soundness that now flavors all their contacts with one another. The generous eye fills the whole body of relationships with light. Generosity, like love, never fails.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, Your generous eye saw in me things I could never see in myself. Help me this day to lay generosity as the basis of all my dealings with everyone. May your generosity generate generosity in me. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Suppose ' just suppose '

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 3:19-35

"Do not say to your neighbor, 'Come back later; Ill give it tomorrow' - when you now have it with you." (v.28)
The Bible fairly bulges with the truth that the generous generate generosity in others.

When Ananias, a potential victim of Saul's spite and rage, put his hands on the stricken zealot and generously said, "Brother Saul," that generosity, I believe, touched something deep within the newly converted disciple. It helped to start the greatest Christian of the centuries on his way.

Suppose, just suppose, the little boy who gave his loaves and fishes to Jesus had said to himself: "This meal is mine and I will share it with no one," he would not have witnessed one of the greatest miracles of all time.

Suppose the disciples, instead of serving out the multiplied bread and fishes to the crowd, decided to pile it in one corner and make a charge for it. What do you think would have happened?

I doubt whether we would ever have heard of them again. They would have sunk into obscurity. And again, suppose the man who owned the colt on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem had said, "This colt is mine and I will let it go to no one," what would have happened?

For the balance of his days he would have had an inner debate over whether or not he was justified in keeping it for himself. You and I will come across opportunities to be generous.

If we fail to respond to these opportunities, who knows what great ministries will never come to birth, what mighty things will not get done? God has opened His doors of generosity to us; let us not fail to open up the doors of our generosity to others.

Prayer:
O Father, help me be the channel and not the stopping place of all Your generosity to me. When I see how generosity has opened up such power in the lives of others, I fear that I may fail. Help me, dear Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Framework for generosity

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 11:1-10

"The Lord abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight." (v.1)

How do we go about establishing a framework for generosity? First - decide that nothing you possess is your own but that everything you have belongs to God. This puts God in His place and you in yours. You are now ready to manage His possessions, not as you like but as He likes. This is real freedom.

It gives you a sense of accountability to another - God. You get your life orders not from a whim, a notion, self-impulse or whatever takes your fancy, but from the One who saved you and redeemed you. Second - go over your life and see what belongs to your needs and what merely belongs to your wants.

Your needs are important - God has promised to supply them - but your wants? Ah, that is another thing. You need as much as will make you fit - spiritually, physically and mentally - for the purposes of God while you are here on the earth.

Beyond that, what you have belongs to the needs of others. How do you decide what belongs to your needs? No one can decide it for you - though they can make suggestions - for you are accountable to God.

Go over your life item by item and ask Him for directions. Your family should figure prominently in your concerns, but you must check everything with the Lord.

Third - fix it as an axiom in your mind that you will be generous to people, not for the good feelings that generosity brings, but because you are determined to bless them in some way. You must never be generous in order to get a blessing - you must be generous to be a blessing.

Prayer:
Father, I am thankful that the basis of my life is fixed in You and from that I am able to build a framework for generosity. From now on help me to give with all the stops out. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Completing the framework

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 14:27-35

"' whoever is kind to the needy honors God." (v.31)

We continue looking at how to build a framework for generosity. Fourth - give at least a tithe of your earnings to the Lord's work. The giving of a tithe is seen by many as legalistic, but the tithe is really a symbol of acknowledgment that the nine-tenths belongs to God.

The Hebrews waved the firstfruits of the harvest before the Lord as an acknowledgment that the coming harvest belonged to Him.

Some will be able to give far more than a tithe, but the tithe is a good place to begin. Fifth - make your will under God's direction and maintain a balance between responsibility for your family and the continuing work of God.

Make sure your relatives don't waste what God has given you to invest in His kingdom. You might need advice here from a wise Christian. Sixth - remember that the principle of generosity applies not only to your treasure but also to your talents and your time. Each day ask God to show you ways of using your talents and time for Him.

John Wesley's advice is worth repeating: "Make all you can; save all you can; give all you can." Seventh - accept the smallest opportunity to be generous as a proving ground for faithfulness. "You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things" (Matt. 25:21).

Don't wait for the big opportunities to be generous but start with the next opportunity that comes your way - no matter how small it may be. Get ready for the bigger by doing the little well. Why does the Bible make much of generosity? Because the truly generous are the truly wise.

Prayer:
Father, just like Simon Peter, who gave Your Son his boat from which to preach, I give You my treasure, my talents and my time for You to use as Your pulpit - today and every day. In Christ's Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

Disturbing complacency

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 13:1-10

"The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied." (v.4)

Today we come to the fourth of the seven pillars of wisdom - diligence. The wise are those who persevere, who persist in following that which is right, who stick with it and never give up. One of the great needs of our day is for diligence to be put back into life - especially among the young.

A Christian educator writes: "Diligence in the young is something that is built into them not by precept but by example. In today's world there are not enough examples of diligence to inspire or guide." Diligence does not seem to be esteemed in the way it once was.

Prior to my conversion, I lacked greatly in diligence simply because I chose not to apply myself to anything. Then in my teens Christ came into my life and by His coming disturbed my complacency and challenged me to apply myself to the things that were before me.

The result? I covered more ground in the first year following my conversion than I did in the previous two or three years. A year or so after my conversion, an uncle of mine said to my father, "I wondered whether he had been really converted but by his diligence I can see he has found God."

Forgive the continued personal emphasis, but if it had not been for the diligence I learned at the feet of Christ, I would not have been able to continue writing Every Day with Jesus. I learned diligence from the One whose life and character were the very epitome of this quality - Jesus. He is diligence personified.

Prayer:
Gracious and loving Father, I also long for this facet of wisdom, the quality of diligence. Prune from me all laziness and indolence, all lethargy and dodging of responsibility, all complacency and pride. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

A second wind

For reading & meditation: Proverbs 10:1-8

"Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." (v.4)

One day the disciples said to Jesus: " '' a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours of daylight?' " (John 11:8-9). Jesus was saying that it is not a question of what they will or will not do.

There are twelve hours in the day - enough time for what must be done - and He must get on and complete His task.

What a sense of inward drive is found in these words. The purpose for which He had come into the world was inwardly pressing Him forward, despite the obstacles that came His way, and He would pursue the task right to the end.

It is possible, of course, to be a person of diligence without knowing Christ, but those who know Him have an added power at work within them that drives them forward to the completion of a task. I said yesterday that when Christ came into my life He disturbed my complacency.

Someone else put it like this: "When Jesus came into my life He became the conscience of my conscience." A middle-aged lady said, "Christ gave me a second wind in the race of life." I wonder, as you read these notes, are you on the point of giving up a task in which you know you are rightly engaged?

Have laziness, inertia and indolence crept in and threatened to take over your soul? Reach up and put your hand in the hand of Jesus. Confess your failure to draw from Him the strength you need. Then in His name go out and throw yourself again into the task.

Prayer:
Gracious and loving Father, I am thankful for all the benefits of "common grace" but I am thankful even more for the special grace that is mine through Christ Jesus the Lord. Help me to use that special grace to Your praise and glory. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

So wise - yet so foolish!

For reading & meditation - Proverbs 2

"' applying your heart to understanding ' then you will ' find the knowledge of God." (vv.2, 5)

Permit me to continue to explore a little more of Victor Frankl's thinking. Although now a well-known and highly respected psychiatrist, Frankl seems unable to accept the divine perspective.

Listen to this: "The reason so many people are unhappy is because they fail to understand what human existence is all about. Until we recognize that life is not just something to be enjoyed but rather a task that each of us is assigned, we will never find meaning in our lives and we will never be truly happy."

So near yet so far! So wise yet so foolish! He understands that without meaning life is drab and difficult, but he fails to go on to the next step and say that true meaning can only be found in Christ. He is both a delight and a disappointment, a delight because he says, "Life is a task," but a disappointment because he fails to bring in Christ to help perform that task.

Yes, life is a task, a tough one that is sometimes well nigh unbearable. That's why we need to have the Lord at the center of our lives - we then pursue the divine task with the help of divine grace.

Both the writer of the Proverbs and Victor Frankl say that life works better when we give ourselves to it with diligence, but there is much more to it than this.

Why do you think God inspired the writer of Proverbs to personify wisdom? Because (as we saw) it prepares us to face the fact that true wisdom is not merely found in principles, but in a Person. And that Person is Christ.

Prayer:
O Father, how sad when the wise of this world show themselves to be so foolish. They get so close - yet pull back at the vital moment. Thank You, Father, that through Jesus I dwell in wisdom and am indwelt by it. Help me exhibit it more and more. Amen.

 

[RiverOL]

What's the Point?

For reading & meditation - Proverbs 21

"The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty." (v.5)

Today we ask ourselves: What is the point of diligence? Why keep persevering in a task? I'll tell you why. It is because it is in the arena of perseverance that true character is forged out, shaped, tempered and polished.

It is in the daily grind that the character of Jesus is given the maximum opportunity to be reproduced in us, replacing what Charles Swindoll calls that "thin, fragile internal theology with a tough reliable set of convictions that enable us to handle life rather than escape from it."

Listen to how the apostle Paul puts it in Romans 5:3-4: "We also rejoice in our sufferings, [why?] because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Because life is a task, we need strength to face it, not speed to escape from it.

When the foundations shake beneath our feet, when Christian friends, even leaders, fall into immorality, when the anchor points of civilization disappear, when the bottom drops out and brutal blows push us up against the ropes and pound the very life out of us, we need what diligence and perseverance offer us - willingness to face whatever comes, determination to stand firm, knowing that Christ is not just with us but in us, insight to see the Lord's hand in everything and character enough to continue.

Without diligence, we will stumble and fall.

With it, we will survive and conquer. The astute of this world are wise enough to recognize that no advances can be made in life without diligence. How much more ought we, who name the Name of Christ and have Him living within us, to recognize this also?

Prayer:
O God, help me see that I am at grips with the raw materials of human living. Out of them I must fashion the important quality of diligence. Help me never to forget that the rewards are much more than the cost. In Jesus' Name. Amen.