...and the Creek Don't Rise....
Notes
Transcript
We have celebrated the birth of Jesus
We ended the year with the statement “it’s all about the baby”
We explained the need to be trusting Him, confessing sins to Him
…trusting Him for our daily needs...
But what’s that going to look like?
Context
Context
One of the earliest books (40-50) in the NT
Often called the Proverbs of the NT
A letter of wisdom, to dominantly Jewish believers
Others, Gentile believers and outsiders (seekers) would see it/hear it read
Some encouragement; some chastisement
Humorous look at this:
If you want to see God laugh,
Tell Him your plans
Really nothing funny about this
This portion is a finger shaking
It does NOT condemn industry
It does Not condemn commerce
It does not even condemn wealth
It Does condemn attitude
The attitude depicted here is one of sin—grave sin
Cutting God out of plans is dangerous
If ever a year proved that out, it was 2020
The Wrong Thing
The Wrong Thing
Cutting to the chase
…boasting in your arrogance
Addressing merchants smug in their planning
Culture, a rich man would buy goods, travel to a different city to sell them
Acquire new goods there and move on to a different city to sell them
Law of supply and demand worked back then as well as now
Really must examine Luke 12 15-20
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
Addresses the same, self-sufficient attitude
There’s another wrong thing:
…Lord willin’
God willing or the gods willing was common vernacular in James’ day
It has become nearly meaningless/worthless in many cases
Leans towards vain repetition, magic incantation for some people
The Real Thing
The Real Thing
There is a failure to account for the brevity of life
Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah
…not to mention the fickle nature of planning
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Life does not always deliver according to our plans
Planning is fine—to be commended in some circumstances
God himself determines the recipient of blessings, levels the playing fields
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The Right Thing
The Right Thing
Herein is our application
Notice the fickle nature of our planning
Our marriage was committed to the Lord—not that I was always that good at the follow-through
Our early discussions of “homesteading”
Retiring to drive a semi cross-country together
Spending much of our retirement in Latin America in ministry
my plan for a couple easy weeks around the holidays…
One word:
phtttt!
I know, it’s not a word
How then should we get into that “if the Lord wills...” mindset
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
This means we must put feet on our faith
If I’m out of a job, my job is to look for a job
If I have things to do; set a course of action and get them done
…not wallowing in the overload; but getting at the load
>>>As we do these things, watch God acting according to His promises
My job is prayer and the ministry of the Word…I set to work each morning with prayer…and God is faithful…the work gets done…even if the week goes by in a blink
Can’t get impatient when we see others getting ahead of us—particularly when it’s evil-doers getting the upper hand…apparently
Psalm 37 starts out talking about them Ps 37 1
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Do what you are called to do
Follow-through
...on what you say you’ll do
A lot of Christians fall here
Long on want-to; long on going to; short of follow through
Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.
One thing a believers should be noted for—being people of their word
What’s your plan for 2021?
Are you putting your will in the Lord’s hands…or going to just plow through it yourself
Starts with a firm faith in Jesus Christ—has to
That seemingly disconnected wrap-up
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
“So” connects it—it’s a final directive
The right thing is to trust Christ—and live your life for Him
That includes plans and acting on those plans, otherwise, it is arrogance
Doing all for His glory