This section is full of wisdom and warnings...and that's only the first half. After Solomon's break, he dives back into the matter at hand - sexual fidelity and the price a person can pay when they break it.
Which passage or passages really struck you today?
From Jerry Bridges book-The Pursuit of Holiness. "We are quick to see(and to speak of)the faults of others, but slow to see our own needs. How sweetly we relish the opportunity to speak critically of someone else-even when we are unsure of our facts. We forget that "a man who stirs up dissension among brothers" by criticizing one to another is something that is detestable to the Lord."
ReplyDeletevss. 1-4 are a good predecessor of Jesus' plan for reconciliation. He draws the picture of a snare, something you must be LET out of. Verse 3 tells you how. "GO and HUMBLE YOURSELF." He doesn't suggest that you talk around the issue or try to get them to see where they are at fault, too. He doesn't even give us the option of sleeping on it to see if it goes away or is better tomorrow. GO is first. HUMBLE YOURSELF is next. Then it is up to them to "free you."
ReplyDeleteVs. 6 is a great verse: "Go to the ant, you sluggard."
It is a call to do what we know needs to be done. You know what seasons lay ahead, so prepare for them.
Vss.16-19 are a two-part sermon series waiting to happen. Not much to be said aside from what Rick has previously said to us on a Sunday: If we are told God hates something, we should pay attention to that. My only thought would be to fight each of these like a disease.If we know that even a bit of who we are is infected by one or more of these, how important it is to fight these diseases of the spirit and to allow God to cure us. It also strikes me that like the leper colonies we read abut in the Word, these are often communicable diseases. We rarely keep these to ourselves and often seek to "live" among groups that allow us to not address these cancers of the soul. We find others and "stir up dissension" together, somehow finding validation in our colony.
Vss. 20-35 sound so painful for Solomon as he recounts his family's shortcomings. Consequences for adultery do not confine themselves to a generation; they are long-lasting and wide-spread. That being said, it takes only ONE generation to begin a tradition of fidelity again, and only one admission of guilt and repentance to purify the soul and to begin the healing process. Thank God for His gift of redemption.