Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 5-30-2021

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, have a sandwich or two.

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the pronouncement.
The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
Proverbs 30:1, NASB

Not “Hear the pronouncement of the king!”
Not “Listen to the word of the Lord!”
Not “Behold, I bring you tidings!” or even “Warning! To avoid serious injury!”
Nope. The words that follow are going to have to stand on their own. (And they do.)

There is no appeal to authority here, at least, not one that we can recognize. Of the names mentioned, only ONE (Ithiel) is mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, and that’s a passing reference in the genealogy of Benjamin. Any other significance attached to those names is speculative.

And yet, this chapter (and Proverbs 31, which has a  similar lack of appeal to authority) were found to be worthy of inclusion in the Bible. Their authority was internal.

It’s a bold move, isn’t it, to explicitly reject an appeal to authority when setting quill to scroll?

Sometimes, such an appeal is essential. When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He responded

“It is written…”
“It is also written…”
“Away from me, Satan! For it is written…”
(Matthew 4:4-10, NASB)

He cites the Scriptures, but He also issues a command from His own authority.

This is the example we need to follow. We MUST be well founded; then we live our lives in accordance to that foundation. That’s what will get us through our daily routine. 

And we won’t have to come up with an appropriate Bible verse in order to get a cup of coffee.

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandJuly 31, 2023 at 8:51 AM

    Yes my Brother Pat, A command from Jesus own Authority. The Authority that will never be broken. Praise God my Brother Pat!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more