Closing in on three full weeks. Thanks for choosing to take the journey together!

Proverbs 1:20–33 (NRSV)

20 Wisdom cries out in the street;

in the squares she raises her voice.

21 At the busiest corner she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge?

23 Give heed to my reproof;

I will pour out my thoughts to you;

I will make my words known to you.

24 Because I have called and you refused,

have stretched out my hand and no one heeded,

25 and because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,

26 I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when panic strikes you,

27 when panic strikes you like a storm,

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently, but will not find me.

29 Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

30 would have none of my counsel,

and despised all my reproof,

31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way

and be sated with their own devices.

32 For waywardness kills the simple,

and the complacency of fools destroys them;

33 but those who listen to me will be secure

and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.”

Reflection

Ten days of antibiotics. That is the regimen to rid the bronchitis from my body. By day three I’m feeling pretty good and think…I don’t need to take the rest…I’m well. Surely no one else is tempted in this way!

This gives us a sense of how God feels when we refuse to heed the wisdom; answer the call; respond to the grace given us. The proverbs rightly states that God is willing for us to fail if that is what we want to do. Oh, we don’t think our own choices will lead us there, but in the end they do. And then God is prepared to help us pick up the pieces and move ahead. Let me encourage you…don’t let it come to that. God’s promise rings true – “those who listen to me will be secure.”

Prayer

Lord God, may I be quick to listen and respond immediately to your word. Thank you for your patience as I often need a few chances and you seem to always be ready with them.