Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 11/01/2020

A great good All Saints’ Day to all my Friends and Neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, a question: bacon, or patty sausage?

Turn to my rebuke,
Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.
Proverbs 1:23, NASB


It's a fine, fine morning in at the Chattahoochee Pattersons. I’m enjoying watching grandson Tre play with the cat, and my gift-from-God, happily-ever-after trophy wife Vanessa, the elegant, foxy, praying black grandmother of Woodstock, GA, is performing breakfast music in the kitchen. Other things are happening as well. 

It occurs to me that I was gifted at birth with the CAPACITY to enjoy all of this, in that I was equipped with the needed senses. It took more development and learning to appreciate it; for example, I was fully an adult before realizing the essential and delightful nature of coffee.

Truly astounding, though, is how much of my joy comes as a result of turning to Wisdom’s rebuke. When I was a young human, strong, energetic, and fast-healing, I embraced both present and future bad consequences, as a good price to be paid for immediate gratification.   I did NOT turn to the rebuke of physical pain; I fled from it. Emotional and spiritual pain was more difficult to escape; eventually, I grudgingly surrendered.

Grudgingly.

Even so, wisdom slowly trickled in; pretty much inevitable, as it was being poured out on me. And, at some point, I actually TURNED to Wisdom’s rebuke; I’ve been learning how to do that for the past 20 years.

And today, I try NOT to resist Wisdom; I keep watch, and see what He will say to me, and how I will reply when I am reproved. 

Peace be on your household. 

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