WHO DO WE THANK?

Mark and me with our eight children at our 50th wedding anniversary celebration.

Second only to my great thankfulness to God for His amazing grace in my life is my gratitude to Him for my husband and eight children. Recently, when we celebrated 50 years of marriage we were blessed to have all of our children, grandchildren and our dear little great granddaughter together here in Gig Harbor. No doubt that day ranks as one of the happiest of my life; I felt like a queen! The greatest reality of that day was to be aware that it was possible only because of God’s blessing in my life. He gave me Mark (my husband) and He gave me my wonderful children, and their spouses, and their children. The whole day was just full of evidence of God’s goodness to me. And so we must conclude that He deserves all the thanks and appreciation for the gifts He has given. My heart is full of gratitude to Him.

With Thanksgiving coming up this Thursday there may be many people expressing thanks with no real recipient in mind for who should be receiving that thanks. Appreciation needs someone to receive it. Do we really have any blessings in life that are not from God? Let’s not be rude in neglecting to acknowledge the One who daily pours blessings out upon our lives.

“…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,...”

(Ephesians 5:20)

“Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.” Proverbs 11:8

“How often do you think about money? How do you think about money? How do you handle your money? Proverbs, not surprisingly, reaches into our pockets and pocketbooks, challenging us to think and act with godly wisdom in relation to worldly wealth…this book is teaching us to seek wisdom supremely. How does wealth measure up in relation to wisdom? Proverbs is constantly weighing wealth on the scales against other kinds of commodities to see what wealth is really worth” quoted from “Proverbs-The Way of Wisdom” by Kathleen Nielson. How often do we hear someone say their goal is to be wise? Wisdom brings a lot of beauty, peace and pleasantness to our lives. I really believe many people seeing wealth desire what only wisdom can give us.

This Thursday morning we will be discussing the first 2 days of chapter 10—”What is Prosperity?” This will be our last study until after the holidays in January. Please plan to join us at 9:30. I have books for anyone that doesn’t currently have one. See you then!!

The Ladies Old Fashioned Christmas will be December 13th, Friday evening at 6:30 at the church. All girls and ladies are welcome. Put it on your calendar.

DISCIPLINE THAT GUIDES TOWARD WISDOM

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

(Proverbs 22:6)

Ever since becoming a mom 48 years ago, Proverbs 22:6 (quoted above) has been a source of pondering for me. Just as with all Scripture, the more you meditate on it, the more you understand from it. Jason DeRouchie, Professor, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote a wonderful blog on this verse that is worth considering. The following excerpt from that blog hopefully gives all of us further understanding of this well-known verse. As you read this quote, think about how a similar training and discipline comes to us from our heavenly Father.

“The consequence statement in Proverbs 22:6 implies that the parents’ intentional moral and religious shaping early on will have a permanent effect on their child for good. This statement is not a hard-and-fast promise to parents, however, for the rest of the book makes clear that the power of the youth’s future depends not only on the parents’ guidance but also very much on the choices he or she makes. The immediately preceding verse implies that the youth must guard his soul from those who are crooked (Proverbs 22:5). He could choose to follow the wicked unto death (Proverbs 2:12–19), or he could heed the wisdom of his parents and choose the good paths of the righteous unto life (Proverbs 22:1–11, 20).

While Proverbs 22:6 is framed as instruction to parents, the book as a whole gives guidance to the young (Proverbs 1:4), which suggests the proverb actually intends to call straying youth back toward the right way. If you are a son or daughter who had parents that worked hard to set positive moral and religious trajectories for your life (though imperfectly), you must not counter this trajectory by foolish decisions today.

Proverbs 22:6 sets out a principle that time will prove true unless God intervenes for good or ill. As a parent, I rejoice in the directions given me in God’s word — the Lord calls me and my wife to actively and intentionally dedicate our six kids to represent, reflect, and resemble the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Yet Proverbs 22:6 also reminds me how much I and my children fail, so I also rejoice in the power of the gospel to curb my own faults and the hardest of my children’s hearts. God in Christ makes those dead in sin alive (Ephesians 2:4–5), forgives all who confess (1 John 1:9), and overcomes the old creation with new (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

Be prepared to discuss pages 128-135 in our study books for this coming Thursday morning. If you don’t have a copy of the book, come anyway; I have a free one for you. Bring your little ones along—Anne and Liesl will be waiting for them.