My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.

Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and to insight, “You are my relative.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Tethered to the commands and teachings of God, we create an inanimate bond and relationship to life itself.

Inseparably, wisdom and insight are prized like members of your family for whom you would gladly die.

There’s a compelling reason king Solomon chose wisdom over riches when presented the choice.

Holding intangible virtues trumps all the world’s riches as a guide through the complex decisions of life.

If it was an easy path we wouldn’t need to hold so tightly against the temptations of the world that otherwise so easily snare us.

Be different.

Lead from virtues.

Model an inseparable connection to the holiness of God and watch others follow.

It’s what people need, want, and seek most of all.

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬-‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The seventh is a summary of the other six, emphasizing the cumulative destructive impact to a community of the previous six.

Health and vitality for a group of believers is deconstructed piecemeal by individual sins.

Keeping your own nose clean is a service to yourself but moreover it’s a service to all those who share your space.

Your sin works double-duty for the devil who won’t stop at just tearing you down but relishes the thought of it bringing down the entire house.

How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Where did the weekend go ?

More certificates of laziness and procrastination are redeemed in two days than in the other five combined

Here, Proverbs encouages us to be diligent and proactive in the affairs of our lives.

Most in the US are just one or two paychecks away from homelessness.The imagery of poverty coming “like a thief” suggests that neglecting responsibilities can lead to sudden and unexpected consequences.

Hard work and vigilance balanced with healthy amounts of R&R keeps us from falling into financial or personal hardship.

The message is timeless, urging us to opt for taking action rather than succumbing to the temptation of idleness.

We all want the same thing in our 9 to 5.

An employer who is honest and above reproach:

The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭145‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

An employer ready and willing to protect and defend our company mission:

The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭145‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

An employer who knows his stuff and is compassionate and decisive:

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭147‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Someone we can trust, who can build a team, purposefully united around a mission:

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭147‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

They say employees don’t quit their jobs, they quit their bosses.

You’re in great company when you work for Jesus, the creator of your purpose and mission.

He’s now hiring.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭144‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As parents, our greatest desire above all others is for the success of our children.

When they are launched into this crazy world on their own, youthful and independent, our desire is that they will have gleaned from us all the healthy ingredients sufficient to fuel their own goals and futures.

Very few of us parents can honestly claim to have attained this goal. We remember all our mistakes, our bad examples, and our utter and complete failures.

And we forget that the best learning comes from failing.

The best teaching comes from humility.

The best example comes from experiencing a bad one.

Our children are smart enough to take the good things they need and to leave behind what doesn’t promote their goals or futures.

Raise a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it—Proverbs 22:6

Not necessarily when they’re young, but when they are old. They may rebel as youth, but they will come around to their roots later.

Our kids can distinguish between what were our intentions and our mistakes in teaching them along the way.

Have faith in God to fulfill his purposes for your kids, but don’t lose hope in his timeline to do so.

The OG know-it-all.

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s hard to imagine someone who knows every dark corner of your life, yet still loves you.

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Someone with x-ray vision into your past, present, and future.

When we were just kids, we were amazed how often mom or dad were omniscient like psychics, knowing us better than we knew ourselves.

Parents ourselves, we totally understand the responsibility we have to magically anticipate, protect, and be smarter than a fifth grader for our kids, all because we love them so much.

If you know exactly what I’m talking about, you know exactly how God feels about us.

You matter to God even more than you can imagine.

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

So many refer to themselves as Christians yet have given no priority to the study and capture of Biblical truths.

Their experience of salvation may be genuine but it stopped there.

Hiding God’s word in your heart requires voracious consumption of it.

It’s not like algebra that you study and learn so you can use it maybe once or twice in your life.

The Bible provides instruction for conduct in everything you encounter from this moment up to your last moment.

There are no formulas to memorize but precepts and principles of a worldview ordained by the creator of all. Soft skills if you may.

Soft skills are personal traits and communication abilities that help people succeed. They are transferable across all experiences and interpersonal at the core.

Either you have them or you don’t.

And if you don’t it’s because you haven’t yet valued them for what they truly are: sanctification skills.

Look it up.

Getting saved by Jesus is the most wonderful and cherished moment of your entire existence.

But it’s not the end game.

Knowing Jesus and becoming like him is. Salvation ends where sanctification begins, so get yourself back into the Bible and be voracious.

Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭112‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Rules make you free.

Read that again.

The rules guiding a civil and functional society ensure freedom, safety and security.

True freedom is not unbridled. Without some restrictions, it’s chaotic, misguided without direction or purpose.

Only people ensured of safety and security and having purpose and direction are those who are truly free.

Commands and laws make it happen.

Where there is law, there is a lawgiver.

Legislatures may create the laws and commands that allow us to live and thrive, but those rules emanate from an even higher level promoting the common good.

We are indeed blessed and need to count and attribute each of them to the Lawgiver, the originator of the common good.

Rules make us free.

They alone won’t save you but they will set you free to be.

Read that again.

Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous.
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭112‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It seemed only fitting for a daylight savings post.

When you wake up today, it will still be dark out, darker than yesterday at this time

But for the upright, gracious, compassionate and righteous the light will again dawn on your dark morning to brighten your path and illuminate your mind.

It matters less what time it is but more what you do with it.

Stick to the script.

Be upright, filled with grace, compassionate to others, and righteous in your faith today and everyday.

It will make more of a difference to others than an outdated, artificial adjustment on your phone.

Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin.
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭106‬:‭43‬ ‭NIV‬‬

In the recovery world there’s an appeal for all who have become hopeless in relapse: Keep coming back.

Drug and alcohol chemical dependency we have been told is a medical condition, not an issue of will easily recorded as sin. But despite what we’ve been told, people do recover and stay clean and sober. Likewise, there are others who relapse and fail on repeat.

This passage, while not originally penned about addiction, poignantly characterizes the struggle.

All of us fight urges to exercise evil options over better ones.

And honestly, in a meeting you’ll hear that the clear and verifiable truth that people can and do recover was perhaps the most powerful and driving motivation behind the lasting rescue and recovery of the next afflicted.

Personal stories and testimonies are central features of a recovery meeting.

God is the same throughout the human condition whether it’s dealing with an addiction or any other fallen state of man.

He says with open arms: keep coming back.

He is in the business of healing hurts, habits and hang-ups and millions can testify that it is 100% true.