Blessed
is the one who always has respect for the Lord.
But anyone who is stubborn will get into trouble. Proverbs 28:14 (NIRV)
But anyone who is stubborn will get into trouble. Proverbs 28:14 (NIRV)
Thoughts~
The amplified Bible goes a little deeper in explanation
of this verse:
“Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is the man who
reverently and worshipfully
fears [the Lord] at all times [regardless of circumstances], but he who hardens
his heart will fall into calamity.”
Proverbs is an Old Testament book chock full of wisdom. There are many who read it daily, matching the chapter to the day of the month. I began this “exercise of the heart” many years ago and even though I’ve read the proverbs over and over again, they speak new truths to me all the time.
Proverbs 28:14 seems to boil life decisions down to
just a few words. Be happy or be troubled. We are happy or blessed when we
reverently worship the Lord. Or we live our lives in stubbornness, hardening
our hearts, calamity will follows us around. It’s so simple, isn’t it? Love and
obey the Lord and you’ll find happiness or don’t and you’ll find calamity.
I like that word calamity. Other words in the thesaurus are disaster, catastrophe,
mishap, misfortune and tragedy. WOW, this paints a great word image of a
troubled person who is seeking happiness in all the wrong ways.
We can fill our lives with people, bottles of booze,
drugs, work, material things, politics and even church activities. But where Jesus does not reside, we will
continue searching for that something to fill us. We may pretend we love Jesus because
we can often fool people with our exterior facades of the right words and attendance
at church. But we never fool the Lord.
God sees into every single nook and cranny of our heart. He knows a true believer and He is aware of those
people who follow His lead, use His standard of love in our lives and obey
Him. Sure it’s difficult. No one ever
has said the life of a believer is easy. If I simply believed in the universe
as the new age followers do, I could pretty much do my own thing as long as it
doesn’t hurt anyone else. But it would sure hurt me and tear me away from the God
of my life. I know that God alone is the only fulfillment that will flood my
soul with happiness. Believing in Jesus as my Savior is what brings me
completeness.
Action~
Think about the verse today and imagine in your right
hand is a heart full of love for the Lord.
In your left is a hard heart, searching for happiness but it is not
found. This is why we share Jesus with others.
We want to show others how simple the choice is. It can
be in such easy, casual ways, sharing how you replaced Jesus for your love for
____ (fill in the blank) and how His love brought you happiness even when life
is tough.
Pray~
God, I love Proverbs and thank You so much for sharing so
much wisdom in this book of Yours. You have all the answers and I thank You for
crating the void in my heart that made me seek You.
Trusting in Him,
Becky
