31 Day Challenge

Proverbs 28:14  Blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

The difference between a person with a hard heart and a soft heart changes everything!  It’s interesting to me that Solomon is subtly communicating that a person with a hard heart does not fear the Lord.  Solomon also equates fear with being soft.  See, when a person is fearful, they are painfully aware of the consequences of their actions.  They wisely steward the resources they’ve been given, and they evaluate the damage that could be done if they don’t speak and act responsibly.  I call this healthy fear, or Fear that demands respect.  There is another place in the scriptures that says that “Fear is the beginning of wisdom.” So…fear is where you start…its your reference point to begin a life of wisdom.  You know, its the kind of fear you have when you are in the path of a tornado, or a soldier under gunfire, or…(this one might sting a little) working hard for an employer.  Don’t allow pride, arrogance, and a hard heart to make you choose to stand in the line of fire out of foolishness.  Too many people think that if you don’t do that, then you are “a softee…or a doormat.”  Another way to say this is that “meekness is not weakness.”  Jesus was the perfect example of ultimate power under complete control and yet he chose to submit his life to death under the control of his very own creation.  Wow!!  Talk about being walked on, spit on, humiliated… and yet he chose that.

The problem is that I meet much more people with a hard heart who want to prove they are right…they are rebellious, entitled and proud…and they say things like, “I’ll prove them wrong, I’ll show them, or..they shouldn’t have fired me.“  The reason that I know that is because, I have struggled with everyone of those statements in the past.  There is a lot of irony in fear because it is usually followed by taking cover, finding safety, or submission to authority.  People who have a hard heart are usually the antithesis of those definitions of fear.  They do things on their own, run into the eye of the storm, they speak out of turn, and don’t take into consideration the amounts of harm that is done to all those who are in the wake of their path.  They just have to say it.  They can’t ever restrain.  They are OUT OF CONTROL and they continually “fall into trouble.” Do you know anyone like that?  Do you carry some of those traits?  I’d like to challenge you to demonstrate control, to embrace healthy fear, and stop falling into trouble.  I’ll be praying that your heart is softened, and that you would choose to start finding more life in submission, rather than rebellion- beginning today!

How can you embrace healthy fear today in your life, in your marriage, @ work, in your parenting, in a classroom, etc…??

Blake Bergstrom

Wow! Lots of great stuff in this chapter. I think I could have commented on a dozen or so verses, but as I re-read the chapter a few times, I kept coming back to this verse:

     19 As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.

There is really no hiding the truth. As water reflects what we look like, our words and actions reflect what is in our heart. You may be able to fake it for a while and seemingly do a good job of hiding it, but eventually the truth will spring forth. I learned this lesson the hard way several years ago. I allowed pride to creep into my heart and have it’s way. I became selfish and arrogant, which led to some unwise decisions that cost me my job and could have cost me my family. I fed my heart unhealthy food, and it was a subtle progression – a path to destruction.

We have read earlier in Proverbs to “guard your hearts” (Prov. 4:23) and “to keep your heart on the right path” (Prov. 23:19)

What are you doing to “guard your heart” and to keep it on the right path?

Maybe you need to back up and cry out as David did in Psalm 51

     10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.

      7  Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Don’t fool yourself, what goes in, will come out…..

What are you…..

watching?

reading?

listening to?

dwelling on?

Is it healthy?

Maybe it is time for some cleansing. Do what it takes. If need be, stop and ask God for a clean heart, then guard it and keep it on the right path. Make what ever changes necessary in your daily routines to do so.

As I said in the beginning, there is a lot of good stuff in this chapter.

What grabbed your attention today?

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Kevin Cook

As I read this Proverbs chapter 26, at first I thought “this Solomon guy has A.D.D. worse than I do!”  He bounces off a few observations about learning from nature.  At v. 4 he rants for several verses about lazy people.  Then by v. 18 he’s jumped to one-liners about the subtleties and consequences of deceptive speech.

Okay, I’ve done all of these, maybe not at Sol’s speed, but the one trail that stings the most is “deceptive speech.”  When I speak, teach, even read a simple story to a grandchild, I’m amazed at how “exaggeration” can creep into my talk, and, as a friend once told me, “I’ve told myself a million times I’ve got to stop exaggerating!“  Hmmm.

I don’t think I’m lazy in behavior and in my speech just because I’m a southerner.  Still, [ya'll?], I occasionally catch myself trying to exaggerate a story, embellish a report, or leave out some crucial point just to make myself look good or to avoid responsibility.

I can also throw “lazy talk” when I make a crisis more than it is (former father of teenagers talking here).  Or I find I have to redo a project because I would not read instructions, take my time to carefully fit delicate parts or to ask for help.

It’s hard for an energetic guy like me to admit I’m still lazy in some areas of my life.  I’m stunned to hear my own voice say, “I just don’t want to do that; I’d rather make up an excuse than face the truth.” It’s much harder for me to say, “I need to end this deal, not accept that offer, negotiate a better time to do that task, to write that letter or make that call.”  THEN I have to rehearse what I might answer, make sure I have a story straight, or truthfully accept responsibility for not finishing an errand as well as I wanted to.

In a chapter filled with negative observations, the hope here is implied.  Better to do the hard work than constantly seek what’s deceptive, expedient or convenient because those ways are not durable, not a way to finish well at the end of a day, a week or a season in life.  A.D.D. people get that one.   Whatever I need to confront, repair like that broken kitchen stool Betty wants fixed, or address like getting this blog up (40 minutes late thanks to computer glitches!),  guess what, sports fans?  I continue to find that “durable” beats “lazy” or “shoddy” every time.

So, where are you tempted to be lazy, take the easy way, deceive yourself or others around you, take the short-cut, instead of being the worker, crafter, wise speaker or listener in your own life?