Proverbs 27:1 (ESV) "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
I was a young, energetic and successful manager for Wendy’s International in Denver, Colorado. When my wife and I moved with our young daughter to Virginia, I accepted a position with a Wendy’s franchise. It wasn’t long before I figured out that I was by far the best manager they had in their small franchise. I had my future planned. I was going to be running the entire operation. Before I was done the owners were going to offer me a part ownership in the company. It was bound to happen. After all, I was the best manager they had working for them. Then one day, my supervisor, sat me down for a little talk. He explained to me that my attitude needed to change. I needed to get with their program. I heard the words he said but to me they meant that he was jealous and afraid of me taking his job. I had it all planned out, right? So his words glanced off my self absorbed brain making no effect. About two weeks later he sat me down for another talk. This time he fired me. I couldn’t believe it! How could they fire me?! They needed me. I was the best! In one fell swoop all my well thought out and ambitious plans were ruined. The future was now out of focus and uncertain. What was I to do?
My tomorrow now looked completely different than what I had envisioned. Not long after being fired, I found a job by signing up for active duty in the USMC. Talk about a change in plans! My story is not unique. Most likely all of us at one point or another have seen our carefully laid plans or dreams for tomorrow dashed to pieces in a single moment. Sometimes it may be a consequence of our own actions, like with me getting fired. Other times there is just take dramatic turn of events and things change. So what are we to do or learn?
The Bible is clear about what our attitude and outlook on tomorrow ought to be. "We don’t know what a day may bring forth". James says tomorrow comes and goes just like a water vapor appears and then vanishes. Jesus told us "Don’t worry about tomorrow. Each day has enough trouble of its own." So is it wrong to make plans? Absolutely not! Making no plans whatsoever would be akin to setting sail in the middle of the ocean with no rudder and no concern for where you ended up. We should make good plans. We should make wise investments. But in all of our planning and investing we should remember that we really don’t know what will come tomorrow. Tomorrow may be better than we plan or it may be much worse. For some tomorrow may not even arrive.
With all the uncertainty about tomorrow there is one thing of which we can be absolutely certain. God knows our tomorrow and He holds it in His hands. We can depend on it. We can trust in Him for the future. When our plans change, and they will, it’s OK. God is not surprised. He is firmly on His throne. He loves you and cares for you. He will not forsake you today and He will not forsake you tomorrow. So make your plans but don’t "boast about tomorrow". Make your plans but understand that you "don’t know what a day may bring forth". Make your plans but don’t depend on them. Depend on Him. I tell you with all confidence that He won’t let you down. Your future is secure in Him.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Proverbs Chapter 26
Proverbs 26:20-21 (ESV) "For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife."
I recently went camping with some of my children. One of the most fun things about camping for us is sitting around the campfire. We gathered around it to eat our meals, read books and tell stories. We roasted our hotdogs in it and toasted the ever-enjoyable marshmallows. A campfire is a useful and necessary part of camping. Of course, the fire is only useful as long as someone keeps placing new sticks and logs on it. When left unattended for even a little while it will quickly burn up all the wood and leave nothing but ashes. Then more kindling and a lot of matches are required to get the campfire blazing once again. One thing that never ceases to amaze me about the campfire is the amount of wood it will consume. Gathering wood and feeding the hungry fire are an ongoing part of the camping experience.
The Scriptural analogy here is obvious. These verses tell us that like our campfire will die when it is not fed with more wood, so strife will die out when the whisperer stops whispering. The common word for whisperer is gossip. Jokes are often told about some old busybody in a church who gossips. We laugh and make fun. But how many times do we engage in this practice ourselves? We disguise it by putting a glaze of "holiness" on it. We say things like "Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but we need to pray for so-and-so. He is having some trouble with ........." or "This is not a rumor, it is an absolute fact!" I can assure you there is nothing holy, good, or useful about gossip. It is vicious and hurtful.
The Scriptures here mention the one who gossips, but it is equally important to point out the role of the one who listens to the gossip. Both are equally at fault for keeping the fire going. Without a hearer, the gossiper has no place to spread the rumor or "prayer request". There is no fuel for the fire and it simply dies out.
When we are camping we try to make the evening campfire as hot as we can. We bank the coals and larger logs before going to bed. Then when we wake up in the morning, there is enough heat left in the coal bed to make starting the morning fire easier. Just add some small kindling, let it dry and get hot from the coals, add a match or two with a little lighter fluid and the fire is soon blazing again. Gossip in and of itself is bad enough, but when a truly quarrelsome person gets involved in the fire, the destructive affects are multiplied exponentially. This is the person who can’t "let go" of the offense caused by the hurtful gossip. He (or she) simmers and stews in the hurt. He banks the coals and keeps them in his heart. Words of forgiveness may have even been spoken, but the heart clings to the burning embers of the fire. It takes very little at this point to get the flame of strife burning again. With the smallest of offenses it can burst into flame once again and the fight is on. Once this starts, it is a difficult cycle to break.
The best solution is to reject gossip for what it truly is. In Romans 1:28-31, Paul lists it in the same sentence as murderers, fornicators and haters of God. Let’s call it like it is. Gossip it sin! It should be rejected and avoided like the proverbial plague. When rumors start flying, we should let the fire die out by refusing to be a part of the rumor mill. May we never be part of starting or spreading the fire of gossip.
I recently went camping with some of my children. One of the most fun things about camping for us is sitting around the campfire. We gathered around it to eat our meals, read books and tell stories. We roasted our hotdogs in it and toasted the ever-enjoyable marshmallows. A campfire is a useful and necessary part of camping. Of course, the fire is only useful as long as someone keeps placing new sticks and logs on it. When left unattended for even a little while it will quickly burn up all the wood and leave nothing but ashes. Then more kindling and a lot of matches are required to get the campfire blazing once again. One thing that never ceases to amaze me about the campfire is the amount of wood it will consume. Gathering wood and feeding the hungry fire are an ongoing part of the camping experience.
The Scriptural analogy here is obvious. These verses tell us that like our campfire will die when it is not fed with more wood, so strife will die out when the whisperer stops whispering. The common word for whisperer is gossip. Jokes are often told about some old busybody in a church who gossips. We laugh and make fun. But how many times do we engage in this practice ourselves? We disguise it by putting a glaze of "holiness" on it. We say things like "Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but we need to pray for so-and-so. He is having some trouble with ........." or "This is not a rumor, it is an absolute fact!" I can assure you there is nothing holy, good, or useful about gossip. It is vicious and hurtful.
The Scriptures here mention the one who gossips, but it is equally important to point out the role of the one who listens to the gossip. Both are equally at fault for keeping the fire going. Without a hearer, the gossiper has no place to spread the rumor or "prayer request". There is no fuel for the fire and it simply dies out.
When we are camping we try to make the evening campfire as hot as we can. We bank the coals and larger logs before going to bed. Then when we wake up in the morning, there is enough heat left in the coal bed to make starting the morning fire easier. Just add some small kindling, let it dry and get hot from the coals, add a match or two with a little lighter fluid and the fire is soon blazing again. Gossip in and of itself is bad enough, but when a truly quarrelsome person gets involved in the fire, the destructive affects are multiplied exponentially. This is the person who can’t "let go" of the offense caused by the hurtful gossip. He (or she) simmers and stews in the hurt. He banks the coals and keeps them in his heart. Words of forgiveness may have even been spoken, but the heart clings to the burning embers of the fire. It takes very little at this point to get the flame of strife burning again. With the smallest of offenses it can burst into flame once again and the fight is on. Once this starts, it is a difficult cycle to break.
The best solution is to reject gossip for what it truly is. In Romans 1:28-31, Paul lists it in the same sentence as murderers, fornicators and haters of God. Let’s call it like it is. Gossip it sin! It should be rejected and avoided like the proverbial plague. When rumors start flying, we should let the fire die out by refusing to be a part of the rumor mill. May we never be part of starting or spreading the fire of gossip.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Proverbs Chapter 25
Proverbs 25:4 (ESV) "Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel;"
Silver is and has always been considered a precious metal. In 2007 over 1200 metric tons of silver were mined in some 36 active silver mines in the United States. Silver is valuable but in it’s raw form it is not very useful. It must be refined to remove the impurities. Once silver is refined it becomes both valuable and useful. "Take away the dross or impurities from the silver and the refiner or silversmith has material he can use."
In the Scriptures there are several instances of refining process of silver as it relates to the Christian life. Consider Malachi 3:3 (ESV) "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.", and Psalms 66:10 (ESV) "For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." God wants us to be pure silver. He wants us to be both valuable and useful vessels.
Pure silver has a number of very interesting properties. As you read these and consider the above verses you may see some unique and interesting parallels between this precious metal and the pure Christian life. Silver has the highest degree of electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. A lot of silver is used in printed electrical circuits and computer keyboards. Because of it’s superior conductivity it is used in many high-end audio hard-ware where it is believed to cause the least loss of quality in the signal. Because of it’s high degree of reflectivity it is used as a mirror coating in very specialized optics. Silver is known to be naturally antibiotic and antimicrobial. It has been and still is used in medicine to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. In times past it was often used to help preserve freshness in certain food products. Silver is even used in certain kinds of cloth to produce clothing that resists the growth of bacteria and fungi in hot, humid climates.
Silver is an amazing element. In it’s purest form it has a number of uses and the more pure it is the more useful it is. Unfortunately for the silver and for the Christian, the refining process can be long, complicated and even painful. The have been many processes invented for the refining of silver but they all have at least one thing in common. All of them use extreme heat at some point in the process. God wants us as His people to be pure, refined silver. And this process requires heat. The heat of trials and struggles in which we find ourselves are not accidents. They are all part of the refining fire God is using in our lives to make us more and more pure. We are certainly valuable to God but in the continual refining process we become useful vessels. We can be highly conductive as we share the light of His Good News to a dark and cold world. We can be the shiny mirror that reflects His image to those in need. We can be a medicine and a preservative for a sick world by rejecting the sinful ways that tend to creep into our society.
As hard as the refining process is, find encouragement in it. The Refiner loves you. You are so valuable to Him that He paid the ultimate price to "mine" you. Now He wants to refine you. He is "taking away the dross so He will have material fit for His use."
Silver is and has always been considered a precious metal. In 2007 over 1200 metric tons of silver were mined in some 36 active silver mines in the United States. Silver is valuable but in it’s raw form it is not very useful. It must be refined to remove the impurities. Once silver is refined it becomes both valuable and useful. "Take away the dross or impurities from the silver and the refiner or silversmith has material he can use."
In the Scriptures there are several instances of refining process of silver as it relates to the Christian life. Consider Malachi 3:3 (ESV) "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.", and Psalms 66:10 (ESV) "For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried." God wants us to be pure silver. He wants us to be both valuable and useful vessels.
Pure silver has a number of very interesting properties. As you read these and consider the above verses you may see some unique and interesting parallels between this precious metal and the pure Christian life. Silver has the highest degree of electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals. A lot of silver is used in printed electrical circuits and computer keyboards. Because of it’s superior conductivity it is used in many high-end audio hard-ware where it is believed to cause the least loss of quality in the signal. Because of it’s high degree of reflectivity it is used as a mirror coating in very specialized optics. Silver is known to be naturally antibiotic and antimicrobial. It has been and still is used in medicine to kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. In times past it was often used to help preserve freshness in certain food products. Silver is even used in certain kinds of cloth to produce clothing that resists the growth of bacteria and fungi in hot, humid climates.
Silver is an amazing element. In it’s purest form it has a number of uses and the more pure it is the more useful it is. Unfortunately for the silver and for the Christian, the refining process can be long, complicated and even painful. The have been many processes invented for the refining of silver but they all have at least one thing in common. All of them use extreme heat at some point in the process. God wants us as His people to be pure, refined silver. And this process requires heat. The heat of trials and struggles in which we find ourselves are not accidents. They are all part of the refining fire God is using in our lives to make us more and more pure. We are certainly valuable to God but in the continual refining process we become useful vessels. We can be highly conductive as we share the light of His Good News to a dark and cold world. We can be the shiny mirror that reflects His image to those in need. We can be a medicine and a preservative for a sick world by rejecting the sinful ways that tend to creep into our society.
As hard as the refining process is, find encouragement in it. The Refiner loves you. You are so valuable to Him that He paid the ultimate price to "mine" you. Now He wants to refine you. He is "taking away the dross so He will have material fit for His use."
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