Skip to main content
Friday!
Proverbs!
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, 
so a person is tested by being praised.
Proverbs 27:21 NRSV
Since when is being praised a test?
Gold is heated in a furnace, for the purpose of removing impurities,  and heated to turn it into liquid so it can be shaped into something else (like a gold coin or ring).
The crucible is where silver is melted so it can be reshaped.
And this proverb compares that process to being praised. 
So how does praise heat things up for us?
How does the praise of others re-shape us?
Is that a good thing?
We praise people for performance (ever been to a concert, or just watch the Olympics).
If Proverbs is about the heart, what is the purifying work, the heating and reshaping that goes on in my heart from praise? 
(This is the only time this Hebrew word appears in the Bible btw).
If I'm only ever praised for my performance then that can become how I see "me", my identity. And if my performance ever slips, then my value goes with it. 
This Proverb isn't making rules about praising or not, but asking us to think about the impact of praise in us, and in others. Praise shapes things, perhaps shows up the thing that really in our hearts?
Maybe this Proverb makes us a little uncomfortable, maybe you feel like challenging the author, and that's OK. 
Praise tests and shapes us. What does that mean in my walk with God?
#proverbs
#wisdom
#somethingtochewon
#itsaheartthing

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,  for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. Colossians 1:15-16 NLT OK so this is an English translation of a letter Paul wrote to a church 2,000 years ago, but does it feel like Paul is wrestling with words and ideas to try and capture all of who Jesus is, of who God is, of how does it work that the walking around Jesus was also there before the beginning of the beginning of everything we can see and touch and know. Not only that but Jesus was somehow the agent of everything that has been made in the physical, social, and spiritual.  Jesus is at the centre of it all.  Walking around Jesus. Cooking fish for breakfast Jesus. Heart aching as he ...
Post a Comment
Read more
Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power. ... Who will bring me into the fortified city?  Who will bring me victory over Edom? Have you rejected us, O God?  Will you no longer march with our armies?Oh, please help us against our enemies,  for all human help is useless. With God's help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes. Psalm 108 6, 10-13 NLT After the most beautiful and uplifting worshipful first half to this song, David takes us somewhere completely different in the second half.  It's all about victory, power, winning, it's all about him. The "mighty things" he wants God to do are all on the outside, all about power, and David's writing sounds like he's a bit lost in his quest to win. And I do the same thing. Praise God and ask him to fix my problems. Fix the classroom/online/workplace bully, fix my finances, fix my relationships, fix my problems. So as I sit with this psalm of 2 halves, its a bit of a mir...
Post a Comment
Read more
Friday! Proverbs! The Lord hates six things;  in fact, seven are detestable to him:  (1) arrogant eyes,  (2) a lying tongue,  (3) hands that shed innocent blood, ... Proverbs 6:16-17 CSB This list of things that Proverbs describes that our God stands against, are anti-God, must be things that God isn't.  It's easy to use Proverbs as a weapon, to accuse or label others, but Proverbs is about finding the way of wisdom, of life, it's about the heart, mine, yours, ours.  And it's full of metaphor. Arrogant eyes. Eyes aren't arrogant, they're just that part of my body that receives visual information aren't they? Arrogant eyes. My tongue doesn't tell lies by itself, I do that. Hands that shed innocent blood - I haven't taken anyone's life... The word here for "hands" is "yad" and it is used literally and figuratively- it means an open hand (not closed) and is about direction and use of power. Proverbs invites us to sit with these p...
Post a Comment
Read more