Romans 9-13
Numbers 9-13
Proverbs 26 - Ecclesiastes 1
Faithful are the wounds of a friend...we are told in Proverbs 27:6. Those wounds are perhaps the means of the sharpening that is referred to in verse 17, "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." In order for iron to sharpen iron there must be a point of conflict, and for there to be a wounding however faithful it may be, there must be a point of contention. The strength of a friendship is not determined by the absence of conflict or disagreement, but rather by how that conflict and disagreement is manifested and managed within the friendship.
A true friend is someone who can see you as you are, tell you what you don't want to hear, and keep loving you in spite of it all. A friend tells us the truth, not out of spite, but out of love for who we are and who we are becoming in the Lord. God uses faithful friends in our lives to administer to us the love, grace, and council that we need to receive from Him. A true friend is a channel of God's truth, love, and wisdom in our lives, as verse 9 of this Proverb tells us, "Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel." Thanks be to God for faithful friends! May we both have, and be them.
Are you a son or a servant? Perhaps the answer to that question can be found in how you respond to correction? Proverbs 29:17 says "Correct your son, and he will give you rest; Yes he will give delight to your soul." Proverbs 29:19 says, "A servant will not be corrected by mere words; for though he understands, he will not respond." So then, if we do not respond when corrected we are not sons, but merely servants and poor ones at that. The one who is a son responds to correction and brings delight to his father's soul. How well do we respond when the Lord corrects us?
ReplyDeleteIn reading Romans 12 the words that always seem to jump out at me are at the end of verse 1; the words are, "reasonable service". The idea that I should offer my body as a living sacrifice is "reasonable service". Non-conformity to the world is "reasonable service". Thinking soberly about myself and not getting a big head is, "reasonable service". Using the gifts that God has given to us for the good of the body is, "reasonable service". Loving others in sincerity is, "reasonable service". Loving my enemies, refusing to avenge myself, and repaying evil with good is "reasonable service" There is nothing that my God can ask or want of me that is not, "reasonable service"!!! That blows my mind when I think about it.
ReplyDeleteI owe Him everything, so there is nothing that He could ever ask of me that would be too much. To offer all of this and more to the Lord is rational. What is irrational is to think for even a moment that I ever had any right to myself, or that there was any service or loyalty that would be beyond the scope of my debt to Him. Not only is it reasonable service to give my all to Jesus Christ, it is also my highest purpose, my greatest joy, and the fulfillment of all that we were created to do and be. So, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service..." The Lord bless you as you do!