One thing!
Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today Mal Calladine gets into our eighth monthly chunk of ‘Practical Proverbs’… nuggets of knowledge that have loads of life application.
What did I like about today’s passage?
On this once-a-month journey through Proverbs, so far I’ve found it hard to focus on just one verse as my main takeaway. There are so many of these little discipleship pieces of chewing gum in 3 chapters! Each little couplet being like a Wrigleys Extra of chewy freshness that has enough flavour to consider over my life for a while to get everything out of it. And as I do it improves my oral health! However, chewing on too many can give you lockjaw! So my commitment this month was to ask the Holy Spirit to identify the one verse that had most life for me right now… I nearly succeeded!
The early verses made me think most about parenting… the later attention-getting verses hit me more with a kick!
The later verses that struck me were 24: 26 & 27…
“An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips” Wow! Full on; in your face; real; intimate! A fantastic arresting image of the effect caused by someone being deeply true and real.
And then 27: “Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house.” A way of saying ‘get your ducks in a row’ – do the things now that are necessary: that need to be done now which are time-bounded. This then invests in & releases resources, which you can then use to do the things you’d like to do…
What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?
From the early verses that God’s heart really is parental.
And from the later verses that He is Truth. When Jesus says He is the truth in John, that word means reality or literally ‘the real thing’. So that’s Jesus, not Coke! Following Jesus is not about being fake & super-spiritual – real ‘kiss on the lips level’ impact is in how He has declared he wants to relate to us.
What am I going to do differently as a result?
I was reminded as I thought about this of the Stockdale Parodox mentioned in the book ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. This paradox is unpacked here: https://innovationandcreativityinstitute.com/stockdale-paradox/ - the ability to balance realism & optimism in our most challenging situations.
Admiral James Stockdale was a POW during the Vietnam War for a number of years, where the majority of his fellow captives died. When asked “Who didn’t make it out?” He replied:
“The optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart….
Stockdale survived by having faith, but at the same time “confronting brutal realities’ and preparing himself accordingly.
I was stuck that if Jesus is ‘reality’; what are the brutal truths he most wants me to confront about my life & situations that I find myself in?
Who am I going to share this with?
My wife Chriscelle – time on holiday for some truth conversations – both kisses on the lips (!) & allowing Jesus to speak His truth into the realities we face – to confront what is hard to! May we know how to balance optimistic, hopeful faith, with confronting the reality & truth of the situations God is getting our attention in. And may you know Jesus getting your attention about where to balance those 2 dynamics for you, too!