PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil” (Proverbs 13:19).

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” there is great reward in just finishing a task. That’s the reward of finishing a job, “finish what you start!” Most Americans have too short of an attention span. They are TV oriented—if it ain’t done in a half hour, they can’t handle it.

Folks, life is not a half-hour sitcom, and then you simply change the channels. It is a marathon to the finish line. The thing about TV is that it starts out as a kid at the beginning of the show, and then a half-hour later he is a grown man driving a Cadillac. Life just doesn’t work like that. Life don’t happen that fast and it doesn’t happen that easy. Success doesn’t just come over night.

It takes a long time, often a lifetime, to finish the job and to be a success. Don’t let anyone kid you about getting something for nothing, there isn’t anything sweet about that.

“. . . but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil,” they are so evil, that it is abomination to depart from sin. You ask, “When are you going to quit drinking?” “Never! I like it!” “When are you going to quit cheating on your spouse?” “Never! It’s too fun!” To them, to quit living in sin is the worst possible thing they could do. They are perverse! They are warped! And many of us that are saved have been there at one point in our lives, but God took mercy on us.

“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (II Timothy 2:25-26).

There was a time in many of our lives that if someone were to tell us that there is a better life than the bars can provide, we would have told him that he is crazy. We would have told him that there ain’t nothing better than this! Well, glory to God we found out just how wrong we were before it was too late.

We simply did not know that there was anything else. I was 23 years old before I ever knew clearly the saving truth of the Gospel. I certainly had not gone to any churches that preached the truth.

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” though I didn’t know it, nor understand it, getting saved was a desire accomplished and it was surely sweet to my soul.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

If anyone would like to be added to the ping list, please let me know either by post or by p.m.

Amen!

We just need to learn in our Christian life that quitting is not an option. I don’t understand it all yet, but I was diagnosed with skin cancer a couple of days ago. I must not be too serious because the doctor’s clerk informed me over the telephone. But cancer is cancer.

I’m just asking God for enough time to finish my course, whatever or however long that may be. Anyway, I’m so looking forward to seeing my wife again who went ahead of me almost three years ago.

God is good, all the time!

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