Proverbs 19:1-4 says,...

Today's verses are Proverbs 19:1-4, which read,

v.1 - Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in speech and is a fool.

Better to be a poor man physically?  We strive so much to not be poor physically but at what cost?  Many times we have sacrificed integrity to become physically rich but God tells us in this proverb that it is not better or not pleasing to Him to do so.  The sacrifice of integrity is also tied many times to our speech and what we do with our tongue.  Perverse speech is twisted or crooked to the original.  When we twist or make crooked God's wisdom to fit our situation then we are being a fool.  Maybe this is a direct rebuke of our many lies or "little white lies" as we like to call them that we have given out thinking it was better or would get us ahead but it does just the opposite before our God. 

v.2 - Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, and he who hurries his footsteps errs.

We go from the effects of the tongue to the direction of our footsteps.  When we travel out for the day do we take with us God's wisdom?  Have we set our mind, renewed our minds, with God's Word to draw upon it?  Have we hurried past an opportunity to speak with God and to read His Word?  Stopping to speak and focus on God is always the better option.  I have experienced many times when I was hurried in my footsteps which ran on something other than God's wisdom.  "I got ahead of God" as the phrase goes but really I think the reality is that we are not ahead of Him but rather falling much farther behind Him and very off course with a lot of ground to catch back up to him.  This type of lifestyle leads to many errors.

v.3 - The foolishness of man ruins his way, and his heart rages against the LORD.

We have went from the actions of the tongue to the actions of the feet to now the actions of the heart.  The fool will have an emotion emerge about God.  His neglect of God's wisdom will produce a negative response to God.  It might be indifference at first but it will grow to something more severe like a raging heart against as it says in this proverb.  As we err and as we stumble because of our foolishness and start feeling the consequences of our sin we will have to make a choice.  We can either turn to God or we can turn against Him.  If we turn against Him it is usually seen in our blaming of God for the very trouble we ourselves have caused.  We want Him to deliver us from something that is because we were not following after Him.  We point our finger at Him and call Him unloving because we wanted to be a fool but get the benefits of being wise.  We want the blessings of God without living a life that is to the glory of Him.  

v.4 - Wealth adds many friends, but a poor man is separated from his friend.

Be cautious of where your friends come from.  Do they come because of what you have that is purely temporal?  Do you have them because of something you have that they want that doesn't last forever and do you gravitate to be friends with only those who have more than you with hopes to get some of what they have physically or temporally?  If you are a friend of God, the rich or the poor by the world's standards do not matter anymore.  What matters is that the person in front of you is a creation of God that has been placed there by God for you to love with the truth of Him.  When we put our focus on the material then the physical poor of this world will go lonely because they require effort to care for that many times comes with no physical return.  Also think about this:  if we don't have a heart for the physically poor and be a friend to them even though it will take from us physically rather than add to us then how are we ever going to have a heart for the spiritually poor who could be physically rich or poor?  How will we ever experience the spiritual richness that God has for us if we don't use our tongues, feet, and heart for Him and not ourselves?

A closing word today about the book and now movie "The Shack."  No one has asked me about this but I feel I should say something of direction and reflection.  It is a book and movie of fiction and I caution you to keep it that way.  What concerns me is that the Christian publishers and many prominent Christian influencers have raised this book and movie to a level of much spiritual importance and therefore it is prudent that you take the words of the book and the movie and lay them alongside the words of the Bible.  I have seen that there are times that they don't match up from the characters who are displayed in the book and movie as divine.  A warning to keep your primary descriptions and definitions of who God is and what He says and how He operates to the book He gave us.  Let us pray.

"Lord, help us again to surrender our tongues, feet, and hearts to you.  May we see how important it is to speak to You.  May we walk in Your steps rather than make our own.  May our hearts burn with a love for You rather than rage against You.  May our actions be that of a true spiritual friend that cares about the souls of others more than how much is in their bank account.  Amen."

Pastor Adam