Hi friends! Welcome to the end of Proverbs. I hope that you have found this book to be enlightening as to what wisdom was considered some three thousand years ago and have even found some ancient wisdom that can apply for you today. Today ends our time with Proverbs by setting a really high bar for what makes a perfect woman. So feel free to groan at that with me when you get to it. Haha! Let's read together.
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about wisdom at the time?
What do I agree with? What do I struggle with?
- My Thoughts -
While I laughed reading the final chapter of Proverbs about the seemingly thousands of things a "perfect" woman does I relish in the grace that none of us are perfect and that we are seen as perfect by God by faith alone, not all those tasks found in that last chapter. That is not what I want to write about today. One of the earlier proverbs said something to the effect of "those that follow the law are blessed by God." This made me chuckle to myself because it shows how foolish we are to be certain of what is "pleasing" to God and what isn't. What do I possibly mean by this? Well Jesus - who is God incarnate was the very one to bend the laws of the time! Sure, he did not abolish the laws, he says that himself, but he was not bound to the law. The only law he cared for was compassion, justice, and love. In other words, if a law was oppressive to a child of God than Jesus was the first one to break it.
I think of this in respect to the ending of Black history month. For hundreds of years African Americans were enslaved in this country because it was legal. The law was upheld because of passages like this and others that seem to support slavery as acceptable by God. But eventually people started to say "this isn't right..." and we changed histories course for the better. It took beatings, jailings, and people confronting their own prejudice but we did it. What laws exist now that we tout with the same moral judgement as "blessed by God" but might upset Jesus? The question I often return us to is - would Jesus say amen to this? That also applies to our legislation within the church body and our civic body. May it be so, amen.
Prayer
Our prayer today is inspired by hymn 162 in our United Methodist Hymnal - Alleluia, Alleluia
I invite you to hum, sing, or recite the words aloud as you make this prayer your own.
[Refrain]
Alleluia, alleluia!
Give thanks to the risen Lord
Alleluia, alleluia!
Give praise to his name
Jesus is Lord of all the earth
He is the King of Creation
[Refrain]
Spread the good news o'er all the earth:
Jesus has died and has risen
[Refrain]
We have been crucified with Christ
Now we shall live for ever
[Refrain]
Come, let us praise the living God
Joyfully sing to our Savior
[Refrain]
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