Friday!

Proverbs!

Fear of the Lord lengthens one's life, 

but the years of the wicked are cut short.

Proverbs 10:27 NLT

Easy to read this as some kind of promise about how long different groups of people will live  - and then it can be weaponised to guilt people into living to some standard...but if Proverbs is more about the heart, my heart, then maybe this Proverb is about something a little different...

Biblehub shares this meaning of the word translated "cut short" here:

"(qatsar) spans the concrete act of cutting grain and the figurative idea of being "shortened" or "impatient."

Found about forty-nine times, it moves from fields of barley and wheat to the inner life of the soul..."

The Message captures it this way:

The Fear-of-God expands your life; a wicked life is a puny life.

Proverbs 10:27 MSG

This is the opposite of what our culture says, which tries to tell me that following Jesus leads to a small, a "puny" life.

What about you?

What is it that shrinks you, shortens you, cuts you off?

What if the fear of Yahweh really is a path to an expanded life?

What could stepping towards that look like for you today?

For me today?

(Knowing that we are already Beloved)

#proverbs

#wisdom

#somethingtochewon #itsaheartthing #takethenextstep