Thursday, November 14, 2013

November 14 2013 by Doug

I’m late. I’ll post something quickly and pretend that it’s really awesome, when it may just be something I’ve said a zillion times before. Yep, that’s the plan of the unprepared blogger, preacher, student, and so forth.

 

Here it is:

 

Proverbs 14. Two major themes: the elimination of middle ground, and the obvious things we miss by walking through life blind.

 

Elimination of middle ground? Take the first verse. The foolish woman tears down the house. The wise woman builds it. Yes, it can apply literally about the structure, but it applies more widely about the family.

 

And there’s no “the foolish woman might just be in a holding pattern.” It’s either destruction or growth. Why?

 

Because you either fear YHWH or you don’t. If you do fear YHWH and strive to serve God, through the Spirit, bought by the blood of Jesus, then you are growing in wisdom, even if slowly. If you do not fear YHWH and reject God’s Word and plan, then you are foolish.

 

So, you’re either building or destroying. The no-middle-ground viewpoint resounds in this chapter.

 

The other aspect is the painfully obvious. You can have a clean manger or the wealth that comes from the ox (Proverbs 14:4). Duh. But we want both. We want clean carpet and un-tape-damaged walls in our church. And we want children to come. Guess what?

 

We want everyone clean and neat, but we also want to eat—and where do farmers work? In the dirt. You cannot always have clean and neat and what you need.

 

Parents, take heed: your house can have nice things. It can also have children. Sometimes, it can’t have both. If it’s a thing, it can sit in the attic and you’ve lost nothing. It’s worth more as an antique, or you didn’t need it so get rid of it. Let your home have children instead of things.

 

In all, this chapter is practical, though you might think it’s dully predictable. That’s part of Wisdom Literature, though: full of words you know but you don’t do.

 

Go do it. Quit wasting time.

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