Deeply Rooted (When I Read Your Word)

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:30-34 30 I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; 31 thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. 32 I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 34 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we talked about prioritizing...and sometimes even we know what's important, we still don't do it. Have you ever thought about something you totally need to get done, but there’s that small (or not so small) part of you that says “……..but….I’m tired…..and I don’t wanna,” so the next thing you know, you’re asleep on the couch, playing a video game, or scrolling through your phone doing nothing? Yeah. Me too. More times than not, the idea of relaxing and resting is much more appealing than doing

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:26-29 26 An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips. 27 Put your outdoor work in order and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. 28 Do not testify against your neighbor without cause— would you use your lips to mislead? 29 Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Verse 27 kind of sticks out in this grouping of verses, so we will ignore it for a second. As far as all the other verses, it has to do with responding the right way. When given a choice, we can choose to be dishonest, misleading, and/or spiteful OR we could chose to be honest, direct, and forgiving. The comparison of an honest answer is likened to a kiss on the lips. Now, a kiss on the lips is INTIMATE . When two people actively decide to kiss each other in that way, that means they are both willing to be vulnerable with each other, and that they are willing to be closer than they were before. Honest, dir

  R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:23-25 23 These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judging is not good: 24 Whoever says to the guilty,“You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. 25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Today, this passage gives us a reminder of the difference between justice and judgement! Solomon, the man who wrote these words, was a king known for his great wisdom, and often times he was asked to make important decisions regarding different people in his kingdom. Like any king or judge back then, these people were tasked with deciding whether someone was guilty or innocent or, in some cases, decide who was right and who was wrong. Here, this passage tells us that when we judge (remember, Solomon is writing to his son, the soon to be king himself), we must judge fairly, not showing favoritism or partiality. But... I thought it was bad to judge peop

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:21-22, Wise Saying #30 21 Fear the Lord and the king, my son, and do not join with rebellious officials, 22 for those two will send sudden destruction on them, and who knows what calamities they can bring? WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? WELCOME TO THE LAST OF THE NUMBERED WISE SAYINGS IN PROVERBS!!! This is an interesting proverb...it tells us to fear both God and whatever person is in charge of the country. So, for us, it would be fearing God and the president. Fearing someone in the Biblical sense means reacting to them out of immense respect, even when we don't understand what's happening. With God, He is always doing something interesting that we either love or hate. No matter what, though, we speak about God with respect even when we don't agree with him. Oddly enough, the same should go for those in authority. In verse 21, though, it does warn against joining with rebellious leaders, so we do have to check to make sure that the authority we are l

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:19-20, Wise Saying #29 19 Do not fret because of evildoers or be envious of the wicked, 20 for the evildoer has no future hope, and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This proverb talks a lot about things we've read before (check out our devos on wise sayings #20 and #15 ), but there's a reason this idea keeps getting brought up! Pastor Julia always says that when something is repeated, it must be important. Once again, Solomon warns us to stop worrying about the actions of those who pursue evil and to stop wishing we could live their life! He says that the future of those that chase after evil is set in stone, and it is not a pretty ending. In a lot of King David's psalms, he writes about this idea too... like father, like son, right?! Part of trusting God to protect us is also trusting that God will take care of those who do evil. The more we worry about those around us, the more we find ourselves distracted f

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:17-18, Wise Saying #28 17 Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, 18 or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? You thought after yesterday that we were done talking about falling. Psych! I laugh when my friends fall....I absolutely chortle when someone I don't like falls.... Imagine if that's how God reacted every time we fell short.  Would you feel loved? Would you feel like God was for you?  Our mission on this earth is to be in relationship with God and with others and while we're doing that to be an ambassador of Jesus--to be His representative here. If it's true that we represent Him, and then we laugh at our enemies, what does that say about who Jesus is? THINK ABOUT IT: 1. What could you do to prepare yourself to not laugh at someone you don't like when they mess up? 2. Look at verse 18. How is it just/fair that God would not punish

  R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:15-16, Wise Saying #27 15 Do not lurk like a thief near the house of the righteous, do not plunder their dwelling place; 16 for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? The Bible has a lot of really cool themes, but one of my favorites is that the Bible uses certain numbers for specific reasons. For example, the number 3 is used often when talking about death and new life (Jonah was in the fish for 3 days; Jesus was in the tomb for 3 days), and the number 40 is used often with trials (the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years; Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days). One of the most popular numbers used in the Bible is the number 7, and here we see another example of it. When the Bible uses the number 7, it is often to symbolize completeness. (God made the world in 6 days, but after the 7th day when He rested, the creation story was complete). In this passage

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:13-14, Wise Saying #26 13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste. 14 Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? SAVE THE BEES!!!  No, sorry, wait, that's not the point of this proverb. But, seriously, have you ever looked into the health benefits of honey? Honey is tied to healthier arteries, lower stress, and it might even support a healthier gut microbiome! Those are just some of the benefits of eating honey...if you were to ask my dad (and the internet), honey can also work great when applied to burns. Honey is just good for you, AND it tastes good!  All of that applies to wisdom, too. Wisdom is good for you, and at the end of your days, it will taste pretty good, too. In the moment, it might be painful, like applying honey to a burn, but, in the end, it helps. We will be faced with situations where we ba

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:10-12, Wise Saying #25 10 If you falter in a time of trouble, how small is your strength! 11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done? WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This passage teaches us several important lessons about struggling and adversity. Our lives are full of trouble and hardship, and one of the biggest truths about being a follower of Jesus is that when we give Jesus our life, trouble doesn't go away. So, let's see what this passage teaches us about trouble when it does come! The first thing we learn about trouble is that it reveals our strength. Notice how verse 10 tells us about people who fall apart in times of trouble, calling them weak... ouch. However, it is not adversity that makes us weak! Adversity r

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:8-9, Wise Saying #24 8 Whoever plots evil will be known as a schemer. 9 The schemes of folly are sin, and people detest a mocker. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This saying is fairly straightforward. People are known for their actions. Someone who says kind things all the time starts to become known as a kind person. Someone who bursts out in anger whenever they lose a game starts to become known as a sore loser. In this case, someone who plans out bad things becomes known as a schemer. Those bad things are called sin.  For us, if we are known by our actions, then there is one word that can describe each and every single one of us. That word is sinner. No matter who is reading this, each person has sinned. Other people are quick to judge others' sin and to let that be the end of the story. But, Jesus doesn't let that be the end. Even though we should be known as sinners based on what we have done, instead we are known as children of God because of what Jes

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:7, Wise Saying #23 7 Wisdom is too high for fools; in the assembly at the gate they must not open their mouths.  WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? On first read, I thought this verse must mean that when people are not very smart, they don't speak up in important conversations because they don't understand it. But, speaking from experience, I often speak up when I don't understand things, so I decided to read a few commentaries on this verse to help me understand it better.  Fun fact: the word "fool" that is used throughout Scripture (and especially Proverbs, as the ogs will recall), rarely refers to someone's intelligence. Being foolish is more about someone's attitude and moral character. Someone who is a fool is someone who is not teachable and who thinks their twisted way of thinking/acting is okay. So, that kind of person, when thrown into "the assembly at the gate," should not speak up because they will just expose how they

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:5-6, Wise Saying #22 5 The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. 6 Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers.  WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? If you know anything about things like war and history, you know that power isn’t the only thing that wins wars. While it certainly doesn’t hurt to be stronger and/or more powerful than your opponent in battle, strategy and wisdom are equally as important when it comes to winning battles. The Bible is full of stories of God giving people and armies victory in battle despite being less powerful than their enemies. One of the best examples of this that we see is in Judges 7, where God takes an army of 300 people and defeats an army so large that humans couldn’t begin to count how big it was! So how did they do it? Super strength? Luck? The truth is that they had the wisest counsel an army could have: God! This passage teaches us that the wise

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:3-4, Wise Saying #21 3  By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; 4 through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? W e've got three different things going on here: wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. I tend to use those three interchangeably, but these verses teach us more about what those words mean through the analogy of a house. So, first, wisdom builds the house. Building a house requires knowing how to build it and having the materials to build. Then, understanding establishes it. Something that is established is something that is kind of set in stone...it won't just fade away quickly. It is there to stay. Finally, knowledge fills up the home with beautiful things (that sometimes we don't see how they're useful but they're still good to have)! So…wisdom is knowing what to do with what you have (knowledge plus action). Understanding is being able to kn

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 24:1-2, Wise Saying #20 1 Do not envy the wicked, do not desire their company; 2 for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about making trouble. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? We've heard this message a few times now, right (check out Wise Saying #15 if you need to refresh your memory!)? It's a pretty clear one: "don't envy the wicked!" Envy is a word to describe the feeling on discontent or resentfulness we can have when we look at the possessions or qualities that someone else has. Last time, we learned that it is not wise to envy the wicked because of the future of the wise, which looks like life with Jesus forever, is MUCH nicer than the future for the wicked. But what does this wise saying teach us? This time, the reason we are given is that the wicked lead themselves AND their company (a fancy word for friends) down a path of violence and trouble. We all know and have experienced times where our company has led us down good pat

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:29-35, Wise Saying #19 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? 30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. 31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! 32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. 33 Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. 34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. 35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Cause and effect. Input and output. One thing leads to another. In this passage, someone's appearance and attitude is described and just based on the effect, the cause is known. Someone who is complaining and kind of beat up with bloodshot eyes is someone who has been dri

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:26-28, Wise Saying #18 26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways, 27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well. 28 Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? It can be very easy for us to give our hearts to things that we love, but sometimes those things or people we give our heart to can ultimately lead to trouble. All throughout Proverbs, we’ve been learning that there are two “women” we can follow: Wisdom, who is loyal and good for us, or Folly, who is adulterous and bad for us. This passage describes Folly for us in a new way… she is like a bandit that waits for unfaithful men to come by. But what is this bandit ultimately trying to steal? Well, the simplest answer is us ! The Bible describes the enemy, or Satan, as someone who seeks to steal, kill, and destroy everything that God gives us, including our own selves.  This is why we have to be

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:22-25, Wise Saying #17 22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well. 24 The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him. 25 May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful! WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This passage is another great lesson on the true value of wisdom compared to the things our world sees as valuable. We've seen a few verses throughout Proverbs talk about this, but in case you missed it, most of Proverbs is told in the perspective of a father giving advice to his child. Many of us can probably relate to the battle of tug of war we can have in our head... do we follow what our parents tell us to do, or do we follow what we really want to do? Do we follow what we know to be wise, or do we follow the thing that looks so tempting?  We know the better cho

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:19-21, Wise Saying #16 19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: 20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, 21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? The small choices we make now add up slowly into the person that we are. Look at the change between verse 20 to verse 21. People who drink too much often suddenly become drunkards and those who eat a lot suddenly become gluttons. Sometimes we make a small choice and think to ourselves "oh, but that's just one choice," but then that choice leads to another, which leads to another, which leads to another, and suddenly we are someone we do not want to be. There is not a single drunkard or glutton out there who decided when they were fourteen years old that they wanted to be a drunkard or a glutton. But, when they were fourteen, they decided to steal some alcohol or go back for ei

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:17-18, Wise Saying #15 17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. 18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Have you ever stopped for a moment and wondered, "how much easier would life be if I didn't have to follow Jesus?" Being honest, I definitely have. Growing up, I remember seeing how some of my friends would live or act. Sometimes, it would make me feel jealous, because I knew that if I ever even tried to act that way, I would either A) get in A LOT of trouble with my parents OR B) feel really guilty about it. If you've ever felt that way, this passage reminds us that we aren't alone! Solomon writes that we shouldn't waste time being envious of the life that sinners get to live, but instead we should be zealous (a fancy word for giving a lot of effort, attention, and/or passion) toward God! But why? Verse 18 gives a promise t

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:15-16, Wise Saying #14 15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed; 16 my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Do you ever think about what might make your parents the proudest of you? I used to do that a lot and oftentimes still think in my head, "oh, sweet, my parents are gonna think this is awesome." But, most of the time, it was about doing well at a sport or achieving academically. I rarely thought about my character and how that might make my parents proud.  For parents and God alike, one of the things that makes them the proudest is NOT what  we are doing but instead who  we are becoming. Are we seeking after wisdom? Are we speaking what is right? Encouraging others and lifting them up? If someone took away all your awards and good grades and medals, would there still be amazing things to say about you? I know pretty much everyone reading these blogs, so I can go ahead

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:13, Wise Saying #13 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die. 14 Punish them with the rod and save them from death. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? When’s the last time your parents had to punish you for doing something you shouldn’t have? Sometimes, we can look at our mistakes and understand where our parents are coming from. Other times, we find ourselves frustrated with them because “they just don’t get it” or their punishments are way too harsh… but when’s the last time you thanked your parents for punishing you? I don’t think I can think of a single time I have! This passage teaches us that good parents, meaning parents that will point their children toward Jesus, are encouraged by God’s Word to discipline their kids! But why? Well, the Bible puts it bluntly… a child who goes their whole life without punishment walks down a road that leads to death. We can certainly think about this in the context of today

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:12, Wise Saying #12 12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Let's get practical. How exactly do we apply our hearts to instruction AND our ears to words of knowledge? Let's start with our hearts. Have you ever really put your heart into something? I think I really put my heart into my friends sometimes. If they have a bad day, I have a less good day. If they are excited for something, I am excited for that. It's a neat way to go about caring for people (side note: it can go too far, but that's a different blog). The main point is, putting my heart into them meant that I had a reaction to them. If we want to put our heart into instruction, then we need to have a reaction to instruction. The only way we can react to instruction is if we seek it out to begin with. I wouldn't know how my friends were feeling if I didn't ask first.  That leads us directly to our ears! When I ask my fri

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:10-11, Wise Saying #11 10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, 11 for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Do you ever read a verse or passage from the Bible and think “man, this would probably make more sense thousands of years ago?” This seems like one of those passages. For the whole boundary stones thing, check out our devo we made on Wise Saying #5! But what about this whole part with fields, orphans, and defenders? This definitely would have made more sense back then compared to today, but let’s break it down Sadly, a not-so-rare thing that some people would do way back when is rob the fields of orphans. This happened because they usually didn’t have a defender of their land (typically the father’s role back then to farm). However, some families actually had a powerful relative or person who would defend the rights and land of those who could not protec

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:9, Wise Saying #10 9 Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? YOU'RE A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE SAYINGS!!!! KEEP IT UP!!!! This reminds me of a story.  Once, I was outside with my brother, and I was begging him to play outside with me. It was starting to drizzle a little, and he said that it wasn't worth going outside because it was about to pour rain, and we'd just get drenched for no reason. I kept trying to arguing with him to get him to come outside, but he just stopped responding to me.  Eventually, I walked outside confidently, looked at the sky, looked at him, and said, "It's not gonna rain any harder than this." As I finished talking, the skies opened up and DRENCHED me. It started pouring down rain for the rest of the day.  My brother could have kept arguing with me, but he knew there was no point. Life was going to prove him right anyway.  We get to choose what we put effort

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:6-8, Wise Saying #9 6 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This wise saying tells us about a type of person we should avoid… this host is someone that invites people over to his home for food, but does not truly care for the people he is hosting. Instead, he cares for money. His heart and mind are focused on the cost of the meal rather than the people he is serving. He is so focused on worldly things that he is missing the purpose of what he is doing, and this passage tells us people like these are people we should avoid. This passage should leave us asking one big question… When we serve and care for others, why are we doing it? Sometimes we care for others because it will benefit ou

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:4-5, Wise Saying #8 4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. 5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? In short, the minute you start to tire yourself out in the hopes of getting rich is the same minute that getting rich is impossible.  Like many of these sayings, there are a few interpretations of this verse. Here are two of them: Quite literally, when you make money your goal, suddenly you can't seem to ever get enough money. It's always just out of your reach. Some people would then respond and say, "well, obviously that's not true because look at all the ridiculously wealthy people who got there because their goal was money." True, true. But, how many of those ridiculously wealthy people have decided that what they have is enough, and so they will stop chasing more money? Not many. The perfect amou

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 23:1-3, Wise Saying #7 1 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, 2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. 3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? "The grass is always greener on the other side." Have you ever heard that phrase? I bet so, but just in case not, it means that no matter how much we have, we can still find a way to think that someone else has the things that we REALLY need. Like, right when we get the coolest Stanley Cup, someone else gets the newest Air Jordans, and suddenly it seems like what we have isn't actually good enough. So, that phrase about the grass sums up a part of what these verses are trying to say. But, there's a bit more to it. Verse 3 calls the food owned by the ruler (the person who has what we think we need...aka the owner of the Air Jordans) "deceptive." How can food/Air Jordans be deceptive?! There are a few wa

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 22:29, Wise Saying #6 29 Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Skill is a beautiful gift given to us by God, but what makes the skills we are given useful is more than simply having it. If you remember, we have talked before about wisdom being more than just knowledge… wisdom is knowledge + action! Similarly here, we see that skill can bring us great success, but that only comes if we have the wisdom to use it well. So how do we combine skill and wisdom? It starts by having the wisdom to ask God what exactly you are skilled at! Maybe you have a gift for math, a sport, or music! Maybe God has given you the ability to speak and teach clearly, or maybe He’s made you a great listener. The point is, God knows better than anyone what gifts and skills you have because He made you! But knowing your skills is not the same as having wisdom with your skills… you need

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 22:28, Wise Saying #5 28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? This wise saying makes me blink three times and wonder, "okay...I live in America in the 2000s and we don't really have ancient boundary stones so what could this possibly mean to me...I don't even know what that means in general to begin with?" Let's start with what it means. Back in the day, they would have these stones that showed where one person's property ended and another person's property began. For the Israelites, there were ancient boundary stones that were put up to separate the different lands between the tribes of Israel. If you wanted more land, technically you could pick up one of the stones and move it. The most anyone could say would be, "huh, I thought that stone was twenty miles south of here, guess not."  So, here, without any other context really, we are told to not move one of those stones

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 22:26-27, Wise Saying #4 26 Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; 27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Verse 26 is a way of saying, "don't be the one responsible for paying someone's else's debts." The way it is phrased shows that you are making a promise and taking on a responsibility that is not yours (this situation is known often as "co-signing" a loan). The result of this action can be that you have to pay more than you bargained for, shown in verse 27. How much money you have is never guaranteed, and at any point your financial situation could change, so it simply is not wise to be the person responsible for other people's debts.  All of this is something we have learned in Proverbs 6:1 and 17:8. Proverbs 6:1 also helps us know what we should do if we find ourselves in a situation like what's described in these vers