Proverbs 30.7-9

O God, I beg two favors from you;

let me have them before I die.

First, help me never to tell a lie.

Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!

Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”

And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

Just right

Having the right amount of something is critical. Too much salt in a recipe will ruin it, but not enough and the taste is bland. Too much rain causes floods and destruction, not enough produces drought and famine. We constantly live within a critical window of “just right”. From minute details to the distance the earth is from the sun, having it “just right” is essential to our survival.

Living in the “just right” is not only important in the areas of life outside of our control, it is imperative for our choices and attitudes. The writer of Proverbs foresaw the danger of too much wealth and pleasure in life; it took him away from God. He also saw the danger in not having enough; it caused him to steal. Having just the right amount kept life in balance.

Paul urges us to go even further than the writer of Proverbs. In Philippians 4:12 he notes he has learned to be content in every situation whether he had much or little. Paul had shifted paradigms. Instead of life defining Paul’s attitude, Paul defined life through his faith in God. Little or much, God was going to be enough. The niceties of life, or lack of them, lost their power over Paul because he found meaning through something greater. In these days of economic turmoil it is a great comfort to know that our situation, station, or circumstances do not need to define us, we can define them through Christ.

Thank you Jesus for freeing me from the grip of circumstances. I confess my immediate reaction is often more a reaction to my situation than your faithfulness, but in your grace, you show me how to move past that initial feeling into a right perspective on life. I pray that you would help me to react according to your faithfulness primarily instead of secondarily. - Dan Jones

Proverbs 29:19

Words alone will not discipline a servant;

the words may be understood,

but they are not heeded.

Action required

The old adage “Do what I say not what I do” falls short in its expectations of instilling good principles in others. People tend to watch us much closer than they listen to us. This has only increased in this age of everything visual. Communication has become increasingly visual from TV to YouTube, to personal videos and pictures transmitted by cell phones. People are reading less (just ask the newspaper publishers) and watching more.

Our cultural reality presents a challenge to the transmission of godly morals and principles. It is so much easier to try and tell our children how they should live than to constantly model this behavior ourselves. Speaking only goes so far. Modeling godliness and holiness for others is the most effective method of teaching. We cannot rely on our words, sermons, classes or newsletters to convince people God loves them, has a plan for their lives and can empower them to live godly lives. We must show others through our own lives this is possible.

Of course we fail to model godliness all the time, but in our failures we are afforded the opportunity to model humility, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Jesus, I want to thank you for not only telling me about your love, but modeling love for me through the incarnation, cross and resurrection. Help me to authentically teach others by modeling what I preach, teach and share with others. - Dan Jones