Devotional

It struck me this morning how evil corrupts good.  Samson got involved with Delilah and she nagged him over and over again.  He gave in.  This man dedicated to God let his secret slip…. and disaster struck.   This made me think back to Paul conversation with the Corinthians when he told them that bad company corrupts good. 

Judges 16:15-19

¹⁵ Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” ¹⁶ With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it.

¹⁷ So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

¹⁸ When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. ¹⁹ After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

Nagged Him

If you read the whole story of Samson and Delilah you would quickly see the Samson got involved with a lady he shouldn’t have.   This woman did not have his best interest at heart, instead she was after ways to to defeat him in order to help her national people out. 

She asked, then she asked again, and then she nagged him.  Tell me the truth!  How can you be defeated?  And for some odd reason (perhaps a blind love) he told her!  And then he was defeated and Israel’s champion was imprisoned. 

Relationships are so hard aren’t they?

But gives me cause to say hey… take a take a close look at people you want to be involved with.  Will they lift you up or cause you to betray the trust between you and God?   Doesn’t mean to stay away from non-believers, but to make sure you have people in your life who will shore up your faith. 

It doesn’t say in the text that Samson took the time to talk with other people of faith before he gave into Delilah’s nagging of him.   If he had, perhaps things would have turned out differently eh?  He needed more people in his life to remind him of the truths of God eh?   Just like we all do as believers.  Do we remember to talk to God before giving into the worldly pressures around us? 

I know I don’t always, sometimes just making snap of the finger decisions.  I need so much to be more cognizant of God in all aspects of my life.  How about you?

Such a contrast presented in today’s today.  We see one that is cursed and one that is blessed.  It should cause us to take a hard look at ourselves.  Who are we trusting in? 

Jeremiah 17:5-8

5 This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Who are we trusting in? 

I suppose another question we could be asking is Who are we listening to?   Cause if we aren’t listening to the Lord God nothing of what he says matters does it?  He’s the one who is saying who is cursed and who is blessed. 

I do hope that you, my readers, are in fact inclined to listen to the words of the Lord. 

Let’s move on and listen to what he has to say eh?

He starts with those who are cursed.  It’s starts off very simply.  Those who are cursed are those that trust in mankind.  Who think that themselves or others are the answers and they have hearts that turn away from the Lord.   

Wow… I read that am I’m thinking to myself…how often do I trust in my own abilities and my own endeavors?   Do we think through what we are doing when we are doing that?  We are trusting in ourselves more than we are trusting in God.  Now I’m not saying that it means we are cursed!  Not at all.  Because the text also says “who hearts turns away from the Lord”.  But it is a warning isn’t it?  A warning to be mindful of who we are trusting in, and gives us yet another reason to turn to the Lord to change our hearts.   We need him to continually modify who we are to be more like him don’t we?

The Lord then paints a picture of a bush out in the desert.  It’s going to have a hard time surviving isn’t it?  All alone, in a place of desolation, with no hope of prosperity. 

In Contrast, the Blessed

But then we have the blessed.  A person who trusts in the Lord God, a person who is confident in God.   Can you imagine what having confidence in the Lord does? Not being afraid, having no need to fret about things, because you know that God has it in hand. 

The picture he paints for us is so different than the lonely bush growing in the desert, struggling to survive.   Instead we see a tree planted by a stream of water.   

You know what I imagine when I hear those words… a big willow tree growing next to a river, with it’s branches hanging out over the water, majestic, strong, welcoming for birds and insects, perhaps a squirrel or some other critter making a home in the shade of branches.  That tree won’t have to fret about a hard, hot summer, it will have a stream and the bed it runs in to nourish it.  It will continue, if it’s a fruit tree, to bear fruit year after year.   Isn’t that a great word picture? 

What does that say about the person who puts their trust in God? Can you see how it can make a person blossom? How it provides a confidence? If you confidently trust God you don’t have to fear the hard times in life.   See yourself as that massive willow tree growing by a stream, confident that a hot summer isn’t going to be a problem.   

Trust God is what it comes down to.  Place your confidence in him. 

We need to be asking ourselves: Who are we trusting in? 

This passage is all about our words and thoughts isn’t it?  What do we think about and how do we say what we do? 

Proverbs 16:20-24
Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
21 The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
22 Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,
but the instruction of fools is folly.
23 The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
24 Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Words and Thoughts from Proverbs 16

I had to think today about these first few words “whoever gives thought to the word will discover good“.  Like… do I remember that when I look at scripture?  Do I seek for the good that God promises I will find?  Is reading scripture just another thing to add to my already busy day? Or do I see the good that it brings me?  The quiet heart I feel after spending time ruminating on God’s word.  That quiet heart is important you know?  That time of letting God himself seep into my life.   This is the good you know?

And then after that we hear “blessed is he who trust in the Lord”.  Sometimes I think, bah.. I got that.  I trust God and then something happens and suddenly I realize there is yet ANOTHER area of my life that I have to trust the Lord with.  Frustrating sometimes, humbling others. 

I guess this is how wisdom is built into my life you know?  The learning to discern, the learning to trust God in places I haven’t considered the need for it.  

But going back to that quietness of heart after spending time in the word  Since God tells us his word never comes back empty right?  So that word (that sharper than a two-edged sword word) changes us.  Makes us consider things differently and that changes how we talk, how we think, and how we do. 

So the more time we spend in his word, the more it influences what happens within us.  And so the wisdom that we gain changes our speech.  Because when one has wisdom, one is apt to share it yes?

And Proverbs here tells us that being wise is being discerning.  The discerning are careful with their speech making us more persuasive and gracious and our speech more judicious. 

Sometimes I wonder about that you know?

I wonder if I am becoming more gracious and persuasive with my speech.   Seeing it is something I have a hard time with for I’m rather too blunt I think!   Perhaps I need to be a bit older???  Or perhaps, I need to be more quiet and let God work in my heart before I open my mouth.  That way, God’s graciousness and mercy will be more prevalent in the things I say. 

HA… perhaps… just perhaps I’ve learned a bit of wisdom there???   🙂  (I’m grinning to myself here). 

If I can indeed be more quiet and let God work it would also prevent the urge to shoot oneself for words spoken that shouldn’t have been.  Would DEFINITELY stop the need to apologize for stupidity.  And most assuredly would give God the time to correct me before I speak. 

Lest angst in my life would indeed me that  “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”  Just maybe I’d stay healthier too?

Your thoughts?