Proverbs 10:13-14, 18-21 The mouth

13 On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.
14 The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.
19 When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
21 The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.

Last nite which watching Shark Week on Discovery Channel I heard once again about the huge amount of bacteria in a shark's mouth, often the first challenge is a lack of blood after a shark bite, but a close second is the infection from the bacteria in the wounds. It has bee said that the mouth is the most dirty part of the Human body, hard to believe when we all have butts, so I'm not sure how true that is. Proverbs warns us against the spiritual bacteria that is within our mouths; lead to the rod, bring ruin, make you a fool, leads to transgression, reveals a wicked heart, and starves you.

Most people who know the bible know the story of Isaiah the prophet who is taken before the throne of God, and asked to deliver prophecy to God's people. His response is "I am a man od unclean lips from a people of unclean lips.". And God provides a burning coal to cleanse him for the job. This is a great example of confession before God of these failures on our part to control our lips/mouth, but also demonstrates the the resolution to our unclean lips is not easy. I still find myself enjoy ping aimless talk and speculation. Only recently thogpugh I am realizing that I am regularly wrong about things I am convinced of and convincing others of, also I'm finding that people listen to me. That is a bad combination, a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips.

Oh wretched man that I am, what do I have to look forward too? Great gifts that are the desciption of wisdom in Proverbs are to be found on my lips; wisdom, knowledge, prudence, worth, and nourishment. This comes from a few places, from God to our silenced heart, through His word, through others especially our spouses, and through those who have gone before us in glory that have experienced God in their time. My heart needs to be silenced though before those other means can crack into me. When I have the answer before me and I'm going to God for confirmation, God often let's me continue to be fooled by myself and later whe I'm smacked upside the head and humble can I hear from Him. His word sometimes only convinces me of what I've already studied, without every being anything I truly KNOW. It took me awhile to write this post for that reason, God just needed to let these verses stew in my heart and mind.

There is one of these Proverbs that really stands out to me because it has to do with a lack of words rather than an excess of them: 18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool
. Though silence is helpful in discernment it should not be used as an excuse to sin. I regularly find my hedging how I say things especially with my wife, there is no need. We love each other are committed to each other and should talk freely and fully with each other. So root out the injustices you are troubled by and use that hatred to speak for change, change for the good. This is a big oart if forwarding the Kingdom of God, His people using their voices for the good when it comes to injustices against those God loves!

Laziness, Proverbs 10:3-4

4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.

Appropriate rest is a big part of the Bible's story, we are called to enter into God's rest which is also known as Sabbath. The other side of sabbath is our calling to be diligent, which is a word I really like. This means regular attending to these things which need care. We are not entitled to things, which is a mistake many people make. As a Christian I believe everything we have, every good and perfect gift, is by God's grace and here are some of he implications of that on our work:

Grace is a free gift...
You can't earn it through your work.
You are not entitled to it because of your belief, birth, or knowledge.
You are now free to use what you have been given to it's fullness, however much or little that might be, no hedging.
You can seek out work to be done without the pressure or weight of it all being dependent on you.
You can find blessings where they are expected (harvest) and where they are unexpected (summer).

One of my favorite Gospel illustrations is related to the myth of Sisyphus We live like Sisyphus cursed to push our rock up the hill never to satisfaction day after day. Through the cross of Christ Jesus takes our rock for us, therefore we are free! Able to assist pushing the rock, dance, run and play. We are complete free to risk and be diligent in all that we have been called to do.

The role of politics

Post election year it has died down a bit, but there are still friends and family out there charged up about what politically is going on. I am grateful for my freedom and don't want to see it continually taken away, and I am involved in a sustainable way in political action locally and less nationally. This morning I was reading a passage that again reminded me of the place politics is to have in my heart:

Jeremiah 18:1-12

The Potter and the Clay

18:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’

12 “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

Morning Spiritual Practices

Things really change in a year. Since there is constant change in life I try to incorporate that into my spiritual practice in the morning. The last few years I have read through the entire Bible which is pretty cool, but I was concerned that I would get bored so I decided to change things up. Last year I also completed my writing through the Psalms. Both of these fed me deeply and made my mornings really great.

This year I decided just to stick to the New Testament, since it is short I decided to read it thought four times, continue with reading the Psalms every morning and write on the Proverbs. For some reason, perhaps it is how busy I have been, perhaps it is because I am not taking the time in each morning, but for some reason I feel a million miles away. I picked up the Book of Common Prayer, only read it twice. My NT and Psalm readings are on track, picking up Eugene Peterson's the Message helped that. My writing on the Proverbs has been dropped both because of time and the comment that I was obsessed with the wicked woman which made me realize the Proverbs are just hard to write on and I need more time and energy to do it.