Reflections from April 12, 2010

Today, Matthew 6:24 tells us, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

We need to be careful of the things that could come before God. For many, it's their career as they use the excuse "I don't have time for church or to read the Bible. I know I've used those excused especially when it comes to reading. However, I find that when I do devote the time to God, He rewards me with the time I do need to accomplish my tasks, whether they are for work, or around the house, or time with my family.

We must remember that God is our Master and He is the only one we serve. If something appears to interfere, we should pray to God to help us deal with the "mammon."

In Proverbs 11:12 we read, "He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbor, But a man of understanding holds his peace."

Have you ever said something and knew immediately that was the wrong thing to say? We all have, and with it came the desire to grab the words and put them back in your mouth. That's where God's wisdom that Solomon speaks of comes in handy. Sometimes the wisest thing we can do is keep silent and not hurt someone. We especially should keep silent rather than judging our neighbor on any successes he might have.

Proverbs 12:1 tells us, "Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid."

Remember when you were in school and there was a person, or perhaps several, that just made trouble all the time? Ever wonder what they're up to today? Odds are that they're struggling with life, because of their disdain for school. They despised school and put it down. Today, they are probably wishing they spent more time listening and receiving the education rather than disrupting the class and making life hard on the teacher. This is a good verse to show our children, because they are the last ones that would ever want to be labeled "stupid". And we don't want that on them either.

Blessings to all