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3 January 2008
Word on the Web
Proverbs 1: 20-33
Wisdom is like a woman shouting in the street; she raises her voice in the city squares.
She cries out in the noisy street and shouts at the city gates:
"You fools, how long will you be foolish? How long will you make fun of wisdom and hate knowledge?
If only you had listened when I corrected you, I would have told you what's in my heart; I would have told you what I am thinking.
I called, but you refused to listen; I held out my hand, but you paid no attention.
You did not follow my advice and did not listen when I corrected you.
So I will laugh when you are in trouble. I will make fun when disaster strikes you, when disaster comes over you like a storm, when trouble strikes you like a whirlwind, when pain and trouble overwhelm you.
Then you will call to me, but I will not answer; you will look for me, but you will not find me.
It is because you rejected knowledge and did not choose to respect the LORD.
You did not accept my advice, and you rejected my correction.
So you will get what you deserve; you will get what you planned for others.
Fools will die because they refuse to listen; they will be destroyed because they do not care.
But those who listen to me will live in safety and be at peace, without fear of injury."
Don't you hate it when someone says, "I told you so"? I do.
Why? Is it because we know we are wrong and prefer to forget that we have only ourselves to blame?
"Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while He is near," says Isaiah (Isaiah 55:6). There will come a time when it's too late, when you are past the point of no return, when you can't escape the consequences of earlier decisions you have made.
So learn from your own mistakes and those of others. Listen to God's advice at the start, rather than thinking you will just cry out for his help when you are in deep trouble.
The Old Testament is the story of God's people. They seem to have got an awful lot wrong - even the ones who knew God best. But we can learn so much from their failures as well as their successes. Many of them are summed up in one pithy sentence: "He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord;" "He trusted in the Lord his God."
Write down your story in the style of the Old Testament, telling about your life in relation to God. How would you sum yourself up? What would you like it to say?
Lord God, I thank you that you have watched over me since before I was born, and that you have showered me with your love and blessings. Help me to see myself as you see me and to know your fatherly love for me. Amen
Written by James Archer
Word on the Web
Proverbs 1: 20-33
Wisdom is like a woman shouting in the street; she raises her voice in the city squares.
She cries out in the noisy street and shouts at the city gates:
"You fools, how long will you be foolish? How long will you make fun of wisdom and hate knowledge?
If only you had listened when I corrected you, I would have told you what's in my heart; I would have told you what I am thinking.
I called, but you refused to listen; I held out my hand, but you paid no attention.
You did not follow my advice and did not listen when I corrected you.
So I will laugh when you are in trouble. I will make fun when disaster strikes you, when disaster comes over you like a storm, when trouble strikes you like a whirlwind, when pain and trouble overwhelm you.
Then you will call to me, but I will not answer; you will look for me, but you will not find me.
It is because you rejected knowledge and did not choose to respect the LORD.
You did not accept my advice, and you rejected my correction.
So you will get what you deserve; you will get what you planned for others.
Fools will die because they refuse to listen; they will be destroyed because they do not care.
But those who listen to me will live in safety and be at peace, without fear of injury."
Don't you hate it when someone says, "I told you so"? I do.
Why? Is it because we know we are wrong and prefer to forget that we have only ourselves to blame?
"Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call on him while He is near," says Isaiah (Isaiah 55:6). There will come a time when it's too late, when you are past the point of no return, when you can't escape the consequences of earlier decisions you have made.
So learn from your own mistakes and those of others. Listen to God's advice at the start, rather than thinking you will just cry out for his help when you are in deep trouble.
The Old Testament is the story of God's people. They seem to have got an awful lot wrong - even the ones who knew God best. But we can learn so much from their failures as well as their successes. Many of them are summed up in one pithy sentence: "He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord;" "He trusted in the Lord his God."
Write down your story in the style of the Old Testament, telling about your life in relation to God. How would you sum yourself up? What would you like it to say?
Lord God, I thank you that you have watched over me since before I was born, and that you have showered me with your love and blessings. Help me to see myself as you see me and to know your fatherly love for me. Amen
Written by James Archer
