September 7, 2006 - Proverbs 1-2 and I Corinthians 16
God inspired the wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, to write the book of Proverbs, so that all of us could learn the wisdom of God. (1:3) All wisdom comes from God, because He is the creator of everything in the universe. He lovingly desires to impart His wisdom to us. We should be thankful, and we should seek His wisdom with all of our hearts. He gives us a promise that "whoever listens to me will dwell safely." (1:33) I believe that covers every area of life. Have you set your heart to gain God's wisdom? In a day when people do not believe in absolute truth, we must not give in to that deception. We must continually seek to understand God's way and God's truth. That is what the book of Proverbs is all about.
Proverbs 1 and 2 are trying to show us the importance of wisdom. It is like an introduction. Solomon tells us that if we have a healthy fear of the Lord, we will seek wisdom. (1:7) If we think we can get away from God's judgment, and we pursue evil, God will make sure our greed consumes us. (1:19) Therefore, wisdom is crying out to all of us. (1:20) We can either listen to God, or we can go the other way. If we go the other way, there will be dire consequences. (1:26) God will not be very sympathetic to us, because He had been trying to show us His wisdom all along. Therefore, we will have to learn our lesson the hard way. (1:28-32) I hope you will not take that path. It is very painful.
I Corinthians 16 is the last chapter of this letter to the saints at Corinth. Paul gives his final exhortations here. However, he also gives us some significant insights in the process. Look at verse 9. He is going to stay in Ephesus for a while because there was an effective door of ministry opened for him, but there were many adversaries, too. Many times, we want the good without the bad. We would want to leave because of the opposition. That was not the case with Paul. He saw the hand of God, and he knew Satan would try to oppose the Lord at every turn. We must not run away when things get hard. We must trust the Lord even more. Then, he gives one more admonition to do everything in love. (v.14) We need to hear that. We have to make hard decisions. We have to hold people accountable. However, we can always do it in love. Let's go forward to serve the lord in love, even as Satan stands against us, and God will give us the victory.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 3-5 and II Corinthians 1.
Proverbs 1 and 2 are trying to show us the importance of wisdom. It is like an introduction. Solomon tells us that if we have a healthy fear of the Lord, we will seek wisdom. (1:7) If we think we can get away from God's judgment, and we pursue evil, God will make sure our greed consumes us. (1:19) Therefore, wisdom is crying out to all of us. (1:20) We can either listen to God, or we can go the other way. If we go the other way, there will be dire consequences. (1:26) God will not be very sympathetic to us, because He had been trying to show us His wisdom all along. Therefore, we will have to learn our lesson the hard way. (1:28-32) I hope you will not take that path. It is very painful.
I Corinthians 16 is the last chapter of this letter to the saints at Corinth. Paul gives his final exhortations here. However, he also gives us some significant insights in the process. Look at verse 9. He is going to stay in Ephesus for a while because there was an effective door of ministry opened for him, but there were many adversaries, too. Many times, we want the good without the bad. We would want to leave because of the opposition. That was not the case with Paul. He saw the hand of God, and he knew Satan would try to oppose the Lord at every turn. We must not run away when things get hard. We must trust the Lord even more. Then, he gives one more admonition to do everything in love. (v.14) We need to hear that. We have to make hard decisions. We have to hold people accountable. However, we can always do it in love. Let's go forward to serve the lord in love, even as Satan stands against us, and God will give us the victory.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Proverbs 3-5 and II Corinthians 1.