Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK Good morning everyone. All of us can breath a sigh of relief as the storms missed us but others in our state were not as fortunate however. One of the churches on our district sustained some damage. It is on the Northwest side of the district, about 40 miles west and south of Enid. Also, a professor and his wife from Southern Nazarene University had their home completely destroyed. I understand that others from Nazarene churches sustained some serious injuries, one was taken to OU Medical Center. We also need to pray for a family in Piedmont: a three-year-old remains missing and I know this has to be heart-breaking. Not to mention the families of those who experienced fatalities. “Knowing God” “My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.” – Proverbs 5:1, 2 In a recent search I was amazed to discover how many proverbs there are in the English language. In one search engine I found more than 250 of them. Let me test your memory. Here are seven familiar proverbs. I’ll start them, and you finish them. See how well you do. “All work and no play makes Jack…” “An apple a day keeps…” “A fool and his money…” “A penny saved is…” “Ask me no questions…” “A stitch in time…” “A word to the wise…” And that’s just the “A” list. If you want to know the finishing line to each parable, go to Google. But don’t stop there. In the Book of Proverbs, you will discover ancient sayings that are thousands of years old but are as current as today’s news. One of my favorites is found in Proverbs 1:7. It is a classic. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The Old Testament book of Proverbs is all about character building. It is not a “prescriptive” book. The Ten Commandments are prescriptive in nature. Both positive and negative commands are included there. Proverbs are “descriptive.” They simply outline what works and what doesn’t work. The decision is left to each person to make. Let’s go back to Proverbs 1:7… “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Knowing God has a beginning point. Solomon said that the knowledge of God begins with “fear.” He was not saying, “Be afraid of God.” No one who has seen a child shudder in stark fear would say it was a good experience. What Solomon meant was this: Knowing God requires that we respect Him. Reverence comes before love and trust. Respecting God means that we disrespect evil! In Proverbs 8:13 are these words: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate,” God said. In Christian experience, hating evil is the biblical description of repentance. The Hebrew word for “beginning” denotes “first place” or “highest priority.” Simply, in spiritual matters “knowing God” calls for us to give him “first place” in the decisions we make. The knowledge Solomon referred to here means trust. Read Proverbs 14:26: “In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge.” Knowing God is fulfilled as we learn to trust Him. There are two parts to this proverb. Here is the second part: “But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” In two of his psalms David said, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (14:1; 53:1) A “fool” in a biblical sense is a person who is arrogant and unrepentant. In our belief system, a “fool” is a wicked person—one who delights in independence from God and His commandments. In Genesis 25:34 Esau was so physically famished that he offered to sell his birthright to his brother Jacob for a morsel of bread and stew of lentils. What a foolish decision! In this impulsive act, Esau probably reasoned that a meal now was worth a thousand meals that might come later. “Later” was not as important to him as “now.” The passage concluded, “Thus Esau despised his birthright,” and as far as anyone knows, he never repented of his decision. Not only were two brothers divided, but two nations ultimately were divided over something to eat and drink. Foolish! Sin eventually does that to a person—convincing that person that he or she will be better off by not seeking the leadership of the Lord in his life. The alternatives are clear. We may choose one way or the other. A wise person will choose to know God. All other choices will lead to the worst possible conclusions. Pastor J. T. Carnell