Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
Proverbs 6
Proverbs 6:23 For these are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life. NIV.
Over the years I have at times wondered what was the use of reading the Bible’s books of Proverbs and Psalms. What relevance could books written approximately 3,000 years ago provide for my life in the face-paced modern world? The ancient Hebrews lived in an agrarian culture without electricity, technology, and indoor plumbing! These concerns, doubts to be more precise, stem from a mono-cultural centrism. I see all of life through the lens of assumed cultural appropriateness. How I was raised to think and act is the way life is supposed to be lived. After all shouldn’t one eat with a knife, fork, and spoon?
Ridiculous! A large portion of this world thinks it crazy to eat with anything other than chopsticks.
Another assumption producing my doubts is assuming people have changed in their core nature during the time since the Bible was originally inspired and written. Yet, the more I read Proverbs and Psalms, the more I see that the issues of human nature are essentially the same. The people of biblical times struggled with: a sexualized culture, greed, oppression, procrastination, crime, laziness, gluttony, pride, disrespect, deceit, and disregard for authority. Sounds familiar to me. In light of the perplexing issues confronting our culture and us personally, Scripture provides guidance and value when utilized appropriately.
We see this demonstrated in two aspects from this verse. In consideration of the conflicting calls for loyalty and behaviors, God’s word illumines us to His truths. Scripture recounts that God created people in His image. This means we have a purpose – to represent Him on earth – and that representation includes living according to His expectations and requirements. Since He created us to thrive in an environment of loving submission and service, He knows what pattern of living best fulfills our longings and makes us useful. Those character traits are discovered and nurtured through meditation on His word.
God not only provides us the lifestyle goal; He also provides the means to become whom He desires us to become. That means is the “corrections of discipline.” When we view discipline as the process of developing a skill we can view corrections, not as negative, but as the positive adjustments needed to master an ability. For example, let us assume we want to pray for our family and church leaders. We find that if we pray sitting or lying down, we fall asleep. Rather than berating ourselves we make an alternative arrangement and walk in our back yard to pray. Perhaps when we pray we are tempted to check our email, or jot a reminder on our phone, during our prayer time, we leave our phone in another room or (gads!) power it down.
Our spiritual lives are not like microwave popcorn, cooked in 2.5 minutes! Rather it is like smoking a ham where the rule is one day per pound of ham. That’s a month for a 30-pount ham!
God, grant me the grace to “smoke” my life with Your word and so become completely flavored with Your Spirit. Amen.
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