Friday, March 27, 2009

Wayward Wisdom!

Ecclesiastes
When I read Ecclesiastes this morning, it dawned on me that Solomon although the wisest guy on the planet did invite grief as well into his life and maybe when he reached the end of his life he was "reaping what he sowed". He accumulated great possessions and wives and concubines. He drove the kingdom hard, and demanded much. YHWH foreseen this in 1 Sam 8 :10-18.

He seems to have spiraled downwards, from being wise to being foolish. Most of us claw our way upwards to gain wisdom!

It is sad when we come to the end of our lives and our memories are summed up like Solomon's "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher."Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Isn't that the very thing we work hard at to avoid, and endeavor to live meaningful and purposeful lives?

Solomon should have stayed with his insight at the beginning of recording of books of wisdom. 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom", maybe he would have found greater fulfillment.

2:26 "To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God"

Let us be people who God can bless fully today..Amen

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

All I need to Know!

A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the most quoted passages in the Bible - Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a month to learn the chapter.Little Rick was excited about the task - but he just couldn't remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get past the first line.On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the microphone and said proudly, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, and that's all I need to know.'

Profound in its simplicity!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Prophets, Priests and People.

There seems to be three different ways of relating to YHWH. Prophets, Priests and People. Here is an online resource to help in studying the book of Proverbs.
http://www.cresourcei.org/biblestudy/bbproverbs1.html

"Old Testament theologians usually identify three major approaches to spirituality in the Old Testament. The prophets brought a direct word from God that often conflicted with the institutional form of worship. The priests ordered the services of the temple and administered the sacrificial system. As part of the larger Levitical family they corresponded to what we now call the professional clergy. The third way of relating to God was through wisdom. This approach dealt more with the matters of everyday life and how to survive and be successful in the business of living. The key person was the sage or wise man or wise woman. These were lay leaders whose insight and perspective were valued resources for people in need of counsel and direction".