Proverbs @ MindSay

It could be depressing, I guess.

We've heard the expression, "The more things change, the more they stay the same."  There is no greater demonstration of this, I think, than by reading God's word.  Especially in some of the "wisdom" books of the Old Testament. 

Yes, the history of man if rife with triumph and tragedy.  Great strides have been made in many areas of techinical competence and interpersonal understanding.  But...

Has anything really changed?  I was reading this and thought that it really hadn't: 


Now consider, that the most recent of the dates given for this book take it back to the third century B.C.  That's 2300 years ago.  More or less.  It could be rather older.  But in over 2000 years, we have not advanced enough that these things aren't still true.

People are greatly loved by God.  The last and best of all his creation.  But still, as individuals, we are really not all that significant in the overall history of our species.  And though we might have learned much about how to get to the Moon or Mars or see how our DNA fits together and how we can be helped and understood better...

Nothing really changes how we treat one another.  We haven't really changed in our most inward parts. We've just managed to dress ourselves differently.

It could be depressing.  The Bible is an old book and the culture we live in now is not the one in which it was written...but...

We are still who we were when it was penned, maybe 2300 years ago and then some.  Truth, in many ways, is still truth.  And, to me, that is not depressing at all. It's reassuring.

THE PERFECT CHINESE PROVERB

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Virginity like bubble, one prick, all gone.
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Man who run in front of car get tired.
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Man who run behind car get exhausted.
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Man with hand in pocket feel cocky all day.
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Foolish man give wife grand piano, wise man give wife upright organ.
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Man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok
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Man with one chopstick go hungry.
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Man who scratch ass should not bite fingernails.
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Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
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Baseball is wrong: man with four balls cannot walk.
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Panties not best thing on earth! But next to best thing on earth.
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War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left.
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Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cat house.
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Man who fight with wife all day get no piece at night.
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It take many nails to build crib, but one screw to fill it.
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Man who drive like hell, bound to get there.
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Man who stand on toilet is high on pot.
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Man who live in glass house should change clothes in basement.
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Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs.
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Man who fart in church sit in own pew.
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Crowded elevator smell different to midget.

"Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions. "

Proverbs 18:2, NLT

Heh..I found this funny.

Can the God who made Heaven and Earth hate?  Can God, who allowed his own innocent son to pay a bloodguilt debt for all mankind because he loved us so much...hate?

Yes.

He doesn't hate people. He hates what we do.  Please understand that.  He is GOD and he has standards and those standards are not nebulous. They are clearly stated.

arrogant eyes -- someone who sees others as inferior
lying tongue -- obviously, someone who spreads untruths on purpose
hands that shed innocent blood -- the key word here, I believe, is innocent
a heart that plots wicked schemes -- this is not even enacting the schemes...but just plotting them, taking the time to mull them over, to perhaps enjoy vengeful or disruptive thoughts... that is what the Lord hates
feet eager to run to evil -- ever felt that morbid curiosity to see what is "wrong?" Also those who are eager to find what is wrong, what is "not good."
a lying witness -- someone who, when asked, will lie about something or someone else. Often, this means for the advantage of the liar or the disadvantage of whoever or whatever is being testified against. Implies for a falsely-gained benefit for someone.
one who stirs up trouble among brothers -- someone who agitates brothers/friends/companions/a unified group.  This does not imply that telling the truth to people is agitation of brothers. What this is speaking to is that God hates that which causes dissension for the sake of dissension among people who are otherwise unified.

You will perhaps notice, that the first six things are not people so much as their actions.  "A lying witness" is a person, yes, but a person in a specific role.  God hates the act of a person who is lying. The last is something that the Lord detests.  That he finds despicable and that he doesn't want around him. 

Nowhere here does it say that God hates any specific group.  God's hatred in this passage is reserved for actions.

His love, though, he extends to people. And though he hates our actions, many times, he loves us dearly and will forgive us and cast our hated and detestable acts far from him, leaving us, his children, to feel the relief of reprieve.

Ever have a headache?  It's painful, annoying, interferes with concentration. It can inhibit enjoyment of a good day, productivity, or sleep.  They can be pervasive, or merely something to be endured.

Some people are like headaches.

There are, in life, some folk that a body doesn't "gel" with.  Not everyone is going to be a "kindred spirit," (to put it in terms of Anne Shirley), or even a more casual friend.  In fact, people occasionally know others they would classify in terms of antipathy.  Not only is there no fellow-feeling, there may be outright aggression.

It happens. 

In many cases such as these, there really isn't a whole lot a person can do about it.  There is no "magic pain reliever" to make them go away.  Just as there is "chemistry" between people (romantic and platonic), there are what have been termed "bad vibes."  Just that feeling you get when someone rubs you the wrong way. 

Some folks go so far as to say they even have enemies.  People who will throw up roadblocks to their projects, gossip maliciously about them at the watercooler, cast aspersions upon their character.  I've had them. You probably have, too.  Again, often, there really isn't anything you can do about this.  All you can do is be true to yourself.

But there is one more thing.  From a man who knew what it was to be both loved and envied.


How can a man make his ways pleasing to the Lord?  That is the question.  The prophet Micah says something that is fairly easy to remember:  


Be fair.  Value faithfulness.  Understand your life under the hand of God and know your true worth.  It's not terribly complicated, though it requires taking the time to get to know God, yes. 

Nowhere does God promise that we won't have enemies. Nowhere does he say we have to be buddies with everyone in the world.  He does, though, promise to let us walk with him.  And, if we are living in ways that please the Lord, even those people with whom we are not sympathetic could conceivably be less antagonistic toward us.  They might even be at peace. 

This is not a promise for an easy life.  It is just a reminder that there are indeed benefits to doing what is right.  Some are immediate, some might only be seen in a lessening of pressure.

Like a headache, sometimes the relief might come without warning, but the pain just isn't there anymore. And, often, that's enough.