Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 07-27-2023

 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, no snacks for Piper until she eats her breakfast.


Oil and perfume make the heart glad,
So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.
Proverbs 27:9, NASB

What a beautiful verse!

You’ve been working in the fields all day. It’s HOT, and you are sweaty. Before you can take care of YOU, you’ve got to take care of the animals, so you also smell like goats and chickens. 
You are decidedly uncomfortable.
Your mama is blocking the doorway with a warning in her eye, and a broom in her hand; you’ve got to get cleaned up before you go inside.
Washing is a multi-stage project, starting by the water trough. You splash cool water on your body, cooling and cleansing it. You put your mantle back on, and head inside, where you finish the wash. 
When you are completely clean, wearing clean clothes, the fragrance of the oil and perfume you apply seems to clean out your insides as well.

It’s not an instant process. 
Neither is the process of being counseled by a friend. 

Every scoffer will give advice, but who wants advice from a scoffer? When your heart is in need, you want someone you can trust.
Trust takes time to develop. Even scoffers can be congenial for a short time, but that’s just fluff.
Trust also requires adversity, because that reveals who perseveres, and who walks away. 

A friend’s counsel is NOT designed to sell you something, and it’s not general-purpose rules for living. It fits you, because it’s MADE for you. 

If you don’t already have a relationship like that, what’s preventing it? Someone needs YOU, you know.


Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2023 at 7:02 AM

    True. This warms my heart, friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. On Christ the Solid Rock I StandJuly 28, 2023 at 2:47 AM

    You can trust a true friend. Nice words my Brother Pat

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 29, 2023 at 10:59 AM

    So thankful for good friends!

    ReplyDelete

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