Skip to main content
Friday!
Proverbs!
My child, 
do not forget my teaching, 
but let your heart keep my commandments, 
for they will provide a long and full life, 
and they will add well-being to you.
Proverbs 3:1-2 NET
There's an intention encouraged in this Proverb, do not forget, let your heart keep.
The word heart here is "leb", the centre of us, our heart, feelings, intellect, will. 
When we hold God's word at the centre of who we are, then life and well-being are the outcome.
Life here is the word "chay" which is fully aliveness, an idea that is entwined with living in covenant relationship with God, more than physical life, it encompasses spiritual life.
Well-being is the word "shalom", a common greeting & farewell that holds the ideas of peace, completeness, welfare, well-being, safety, prosperity.
Proverbs is inviting us to intentionally hold God's word, His Big Story, His heart for us, at the centre of who we are, and as we do that, we will learn and experience both shalom and the fully aliveness that we were made for, that was intended for us (& that one day we will experience in all its fullness).
For now, we can choose to take up Proverbs offer, it's all about small steps in the right direction...
#Proverbs
#wisdom
#somethingtochewon 
#centre
#fullyaliveness 
#shalom

Comments

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 ...
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...
Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. Her husband died when they had been married only seven years. [37] Then she lived as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer. [38] She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about the child to everyone who had been waiting expectantly for God to rescue Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38 NLT We don't have anyone live at my church (maybe we should?).  But I wonder how Anna would describe her life? Would she say her life is defined by loss, sorrow? Or by service and dedication, a life that contains suffering and loss? What we do know is that she recognised something important was going on with Jesus - the Rescuer she had been waiting for was here. By our standards we might judge Anna's life as a bit of a waste - yet he...