2007-12-28
Good Morning Dear Ones,
By impetus from the Holy Spirit, I am led to continue in our comparison of Christ's teaching on "the things in which much trust is placed" [active]- mammon, in MT 6: 24-34, with Solomon's ideal woman [in today's terms-ideal person] from PR 31: 10-31. The truly faithful know that these ideals come from the same Source, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the Proverbs passage, there are traits for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In PR 31: 10-22, we have already seen aleph-valuable; beit-trustworthy; gimmel-righteous; dalet-industrious; hay-values family; vav-organized; zayin-decides wisely, prioritizing God's Kingdom first; chet-hard working and strong; tet-wise and diligent; yod-helps self; kaf-generous to the poor and needy; lamed-has peace of mind; and mem-productive for self and family. Today, we will look at PR 31: 23-24, "Her husband is well known, one of the leading citizens. She makes clothes and belts, and sells them to merchants."
Nun: If we exam this ideal person, his work draws the right kind of attention to his family. In view of his standing in the community, his spouse is also valued by society. I can think of a number of people in our congregation who would fall into this category, where the work for God of one spouse encourages the other spouse to also work that way, possibly in another area. RO 12: 4-5, "We have many parts in one body, and all these parts have different functions. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in union with Christ, and we are all joined to each other as different parts of one body." The latter is because each person is given his own unique set of talents by God for the betterment of God's Kingdom on earth. Searching for self-aggrandizement isn't the motivation or the style of such a couple. We should also remember that single people also can earn the esteem of God and others around them by their work for the Body of Christ. One of the reasons we remember the prophet, Daniel, for example is the way "he stored up his treasures in heaven" [MT 6: 19-21]. Daniel prayed for 21 days, confessing his own and Israel's sins and asking God for deliverance. God's attitude, conveyed by the angel Gabriel who finally appears, is found in DN 10: 11. "He said, 'Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.' And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling." What followed was a revelation about the future of the world known as the vision of the Seventy Weeks. Daniel's humility before God and willingness to serve Him earned him God's esteem. Each of us must exam our own lives to see if we are earning this kind of godly notice by our attitudes and what we do. Remember Christ's words that we should keep our eyes on the Kingdom of God and not worry that He won't keep His promise to provide for our material needs [MT 6:33]? A person earning godly notice is doing this.
Samech: A person who produces more than his family's needs is efficient. There is an old adage, "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person." How many of us know people like this? As Christ has said in the Parable of the Talents [MT 25: 14-30; LK 19: 11-27], there are people to whom God has given much, and they produce much. MT 25: 29, "For to every person who has something, even more will be given, and he will have more than enough; but the person who has nothing, even the little that he has will be taken away from him." So, it is wrong to assume that all materially wealthy people got that way through evil, selfish means? I believe it is. While I'm not in a position to know what is in another person's bank account, it is possible to know about humble people who produce not only enough for their families but considerably more- which they share to further the Kingdom of God on earth. Do you know people like this? PS 68: 13 and 18 speak of God in His ultimate victory against sin, collecting the spoils of war and giving them as gifts to men while establishing His home on Mt. Zion in the New Jerusalem. The greatest gift of all is what comes to us from the finished work of the cross. Verse 18 foreshadows Christ's ascension. It is the gift of a human heart transformed to conform to the ideals God holds dear. It is a heart that will take material things and work with them efficiently to build the Kingdom of God [EZK 36: 26-27; RO 12: 2; LK 17: 21; 1 COR 2: 9; 1 TIM 6: 18]. We might not be able to easily identify this person, because of his humility before God. We can surely believe PS 37:11, "But all who humble themselves before the Lord shall be given every blessing, and shall have wonderful peace." For us to apply these principles in our own lives and in our observation of others, we need discernment-the kind that can only come from God. DN 2: 20-21, "Praise be to the name of God forever and ever; wisdom and power are His...He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. How can we be discerning and efficient? Pray for it as David did in PS 51: 6, "Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom." Paul encouraged the same thing in EPH 1: 17, "...Ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, Who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know Him."
PRAYER: O Lord, we come to You today with deepest reverence to praise and thank You for all You are and all You do for us. We beseech You to give us the wisdom and discernment to have thoughts and take actions that will make us efficient in producing what is Your will for us in building Your Kingdom. You already know we must produce for our families, but what we ask goes beyond that. In utmost humility, we acknowledge that we can't conform to Your will without Your intervention. Our hearts and minds are open to it. We thank you for sacrificing Your Son on the cross, so that we can have the choice not to sin, never experience spiritual death, and can receive the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives [JN 3: 16; JN 14: 16-18; RO 3: 24-25]. When You establish Your home atop Mt. Zion in the New Jerusalem, that building will represent Your final victory, in Christ, over the evil and selfishness of this world. We want to be "built into" that house, as the metaphor of EPH 2: 20-22 describes. "You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the Cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself. He is the One Who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. In union with Him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through His Spirit." Today, we confess our own sins, especially the ones where mammon is concerned, opening our souls to the Holy Spirit. We use some of David's words in PS 51: 1-2, 4, 6-7, 9-11, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love: according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin...Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge...Surely You desire truth in the inner parts, You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow...Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore in me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." We offer this prayer with praise and thanks again, Dearest Father, for being the Force for good in our lives, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, I'm led to continue with the next two Hebrew letters, ayin and peh, which represent PR 31: 25-26. It is my hope that you are finding this as engaging as I am. We are seeing in this comparison of Christ's Sermon on the Mount words in MT 6: 24-34 and the ideal person of PR 31: 10-31 a fabulous consistency in teaching of which only God is capable. When Jesus told us in MT 6: 24, that we "cannot serve two masters, God and mammon," He is reminding us that our motives for what we do with any material wealth we have must fit perfectly with His will. Nothing else, no human rationalization will do. We have everything to gain from spending time in His word [2 TIM 3: 16-17], because that is where He reveals His wonderful attributes and His will. What great training for eternal life in heaven this is! We must not ignore that it's great training for a better quality of life on earth as well. The advantage of having a dynamic prayer life is that each of us can discover the power of prayer for himself. Christ made an amazing promise in JN 15: 7, "If you remain in Me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it." My own experience tells me to encourage you to know that we can always turn to God and ask not just for things, but for His direction, His will on how to handle what we have. Joining God in building His Kingdom on earth can lead to a feeling of satisfaction, real godly notice, and fulfillment beyond one's imagination. Praise be to God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn