October 15 / Proverbs 15 / Matthew 15

thorny path

Proverbs 15:10,12

The one who hates to be corrected will die.
Those who make fun of wisdom don’t like to be corrected;
they will not ask the wise for advice.
Pride can destroy you.
It keeps you from so much good.
It keeps you from seeking what is good because it is so sensitive to being infringed upon.
If pride can destroy the most beautiful of angels, it can surely destroy you.
Watch for it today at every turn.  Make yourself aware of it however you can, so you can expose it to the light of Jesus.
Or else…

Proverbs 15:19
A lazy person’s life is like a patch of thorns,
but an honest person’s life is like a smooth highway.
The path of the lazy is difficult to navigate and filled with pain.
Making the effort to pursue a virtuous life in many ways smooths out the path.  Being proactive proves to be a much better approach to life than always doing the bare minimum last minute thing.  Surely we can all attest, at some level, to some level of peace that proactivity brings.
Leaving the house to start your day, do you feel better after waking early, eating, planning out your schedule?  Or running out the door ten minutes later than you should, with breakfast in hand, wondering if you remembered everything you need for the day?

Proverbs 15:22-23
Plans fail without good advice,
but they succeed with the advice of many others.
People enjoy giving good advice.
Saying the right word at the right time is so pleasing.
Don’t allow your stupid pride to deny someone the rich blessing
of being of assistance to you. It is as much for them as it is for you.
Ask for help, be a blessing.

Proverbs 15:31-32
If you listen to correction to improve your life,
you will live among the wise.
Those who refuse correction hate themselves,
but those who accept correction gain understanding.

Matthew 15:6,18
You make God’s word null and void because of your tradition.  What comes out of the mouth begins in the heart, and that’s what makes someone unclean.
It is not merely the breaking of rules that makes someone separated from God, but rather it is our own heart and choice that separates us because of our God-given gift of free will.
Better to have a true heart of love for God that imperfectly breaks His rules than to keep perfectly the law with a heart that thinks said law keeping will make God love Him more.

 

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