“Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” Proverbs 9:8-9
A week ago, I started going through ‘21 Days of Prayer and Fasting’ that is being done at my previous congregation, Christ in Lincoln, Nebraska. It has been very good for me to listen to the brief morning devotion sent to my phone and then go through their guide and spend time in prayer. Being diabetic, the time of fasting for me is just going to follow Vegan because being a lifelong carnivore, that is sufficient to cause my stomach to groan, growl and be drawn closer in my relationship with my Savior.
The above scripture reading from Proverbs was from Day 3 and it touched me in a few different ways. Verse 8 warns about rebuking mockers, as they will hate you; it seems there is an abundance of that lately given the upcoming election. Have you noticed recently? It seems that people in general have become more critical, less civil, and ruder than ever.
Why? Because as sin in this world of ours increases, love decreases. Sin is unhelpful, unhealthy, unfair, unwise, untruthful; and it is always selfish. Quite often, the ‘worldly’ voices in our world tells itself that we are doing something for the benefit of others when they’re really doing it for their own benefit. The central theme in most of the political ads that you see or hear recently is “It’s all about me…look what I have done”.
I recently received a mission email from a group recently that spoke all about ‘their’ work and omitted God from their self=serving comments. So, why are you here on earth? God did not make you to live for yourself. You were made for something far bigger than that. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand and believe that, life’s never going to make sense.
Our Heavenly Father didn’t create you so you could center your life on yourself and push or pull other people to the side. You were created to know God, enjoy Him, have a friendship with Him, serve Him, and center your life on Him. Possibly, you were created to provide s noon meal for this Haitian school teacher who will be teaching a child how to read and write; she may be your mission field.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay