Resolutions 1-5

I’ve been reading Pilgrim’s progress have been progressively falling more in love with Old English and Puritan Literature and have found myself writing poems and maxims in Old English. Having been inspired by the character and work of Jonothan Edwards, I have been writing personal resolutions for myself and I thought I would spend the next handfull of blogposts by sharing with you my convictions and that it may encourage, edify and stir you on towards a greater love for the glory of God.

1 Resolved, to be a greater exercise of patience, in light of the infinite patience my holy Father showed towards a sinner like me.
2 Resolved, to live each day in the reality of a damning hell that I deserve, and an infinitely glorious heaven to which I have been promised.
3 Resolved, to allow God to lead me in his sovereign plan, before I expect to lead people in my human plan.
4 Resolved, to enjoy things not because of its own innate qualities, but as a way of enjoying the character of God.
5 Resolved, to make it my daily endeavor to die with Christ, that I may be reborn in Christ, that I may live for Christ.

-rbchew

Cho asked an easy question.

Why does the Bible call Solomon the wisest man ever?

Because he was.

That’s the simple answer, God gave him more wisdom than any other man. I mean just think about it, this man looked at the world around him, thought, and churned out Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. That’s mind-blowing. He thought, and the product of his thought was Scripture. Not tied to any historical event, not based on oracles, not in reaction to any other body of literature, Solomon had the ability to think thoughts that became Scripture. That is first class wisdom.

But, some may ask, then why did he live so unwisely? And the answer, frankly, is he didn’t listen to himself. He had enough wisdom to know what he should and shouldn’t do, but he wanted to see the other side. He thought that exploring madness and folly would gain him wisdom too, just like exploring anything wholesome did. But he was wrong. Although he was able to discern all things wisely, he turned his back on that and acted the fool. But the whole time he knew it. He stayed wise even though he acted foolishly. And all his exploring did him no good.

In the end, however, he came around and denounced it all as vanity. Wise as ever but weary for the wear. Just as he began in Proverbs with the fear of the Lord, he ends there in Ecclesiastes. His wisdom remained, though his life was largely wasted.

-djstevens

Vacationing from God

I recently came back from a Caribbean cruise and while it was packed with lots of wonderful food, great hospitality services, sunshine, shopping and tropical beach activities. And yet for all the glitz and glamor of being treated like kings, I found it hard to enjoy myself.

I’m so used to having a work-mode and a vacation-mode. The prior being one of diligence and discipline and the latter being of relaxation and leisure. Yet the flaw in my vacation mindset is not the relaxation and leisure, but the lack of diligence and discipline. And I’m not talking about failing to be vocationally productive on vacation time, I’m talking about being spiritually lazy during vacation.

Even for something as short at a weekend trip to grandma, we have absolutely no right (nor should the desire even be present) to allow any sort of trip to hinder our relationship with God. Imagine the insult it sends to God that on our five day excursion that we decided to skip out on prayer, bible reading, thinking of him, service etc. because those five days were labeled “vacation”. Often times we justify these days of vacationing from God by thinking we’ve earned it with our hard work. But if the Gospel has taught us anything, it is that we have earned something. It’s called hell. But lucky for us, amazing grace purchased us life. And this side of heaven, our time is to be used to redeem the time, making the most of every opportunity (Ephesians 5:16). How can we even consider using our “leisure” time to relax, by vacationing apart from God, when we ought to be vacationing closer to God. Jesus tells us that he will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29), and yet so often we look to find rest by spending time apart from God. Vacation is the time to drink even deeper into the cisterns of personal intimacy with God, but so often we use that time in a million other less fruitful ways.

I’m sure that there are faithful followers who read this and do not completely withdraw from God during vacation, and many who really do seek to put God as the center of affection even at vacation, but if you have been hammocking, enjoying God’s creation, both natural and man made, apart from the personal intimacy of the creator, I urge you to
vacation no further apart from God. And even if you are part of the Godly minority here, keep it up.

Let us be a people who work for God and with God. And a people who play for God, and with God. Let us not vacation from God, but with God.

Father may it be, that whether work or play
That I might exalt thee Lord, regardless of the day
Whether I work and toil, or recline in jubilee
May each and every thought, be only, all for thee

-rbchew

Fragments

I enjoy thinking in short form, and so I write little responses to things in my bible. In between actual posts, I felt I’d write these fragments I scribbled in the margins on my train ride today. I hope they might encourage you, and they may grow into a fuller post at some time.

(on Philippians 4:4)
In the Lord, then, there is always a reason to rejoice. Though nothing else may provide occasion, simply be but in the Lord and you may, you must rejoice.

(on Philippians 4:10)
Joy in the Lord can also be at circumstances. “I rejoice in the Lord that you…” Therefore the appreciation of an earthly good can result in a heavenly joy. They care for him (by the urging of the Holy Spirit, to be sure) and he rejoices in the Lord.

-djstevens

Well, I asked for it

Opening an open forum for topics does have its dangers, and I was pretty sure that what we have received as the first comment would be posed, but here we are. So, since I’ll try to be a man of my word, I’ll address the comments as they came. But in my own fashion. So, although it leads me to address what is my least favorite area of theology (men’s and women’s roles) I will, in a way, answer the first question beyond my response comment.
But, as I tend to answer everything. Briefly and in the abstract.
In the book of Proverbs, we are greeted by a fascinating picture. Beginning in Chapter 1, Wisdom is presented as a woman. In chapter three we find that she is more precious than jewels and that nothing you desire can compare with her. She is rare, captivating, peaceful, pleasant, a very tree of life to those who lay hold of her. As it continues, one could even view the book of Proverbs as a plea from a father to a son to fall in love with this woman Wisdom as opposed to her immediate rival, Folly, and the other rivals known as the forbidden woman and the adulteress. Over and over again, Solomon’s refrain is to not forsake Wisdom, to lay hold of her, to remember all her manifold beauties and benefits.
And so, as the book draws to a close, I would imagine that the Solomon would end it with a grand flourish in praise of wisdom. Maybe an extended version of 3:13-20. But instead, he throws a curve ball. Instead of praising the woman Wisdom, we find an acrostic in praise of an actual type of woman. And so often, even though we are prone to call her the Proverbs 31 woman, we view her in isolation from the rest of the text. Solomon does not simply shift from talking about wisdom to talking about a good wife, rather he transitions from the woman Wisdom to the woman as wisdom. Just like Wisdom in chapter three, she is more precious than jewels. Echoing the descriptions of wisdom throughout the book, she is a blessing and a source of gain to those who trust in her, she is hard working, resourceful, kind, secure, strong, dignified, able to teach (with kindness at that!), she is not idle. When she opens her mouth, it is with wisdom. When she plans, it is with foresight. When she acts, it’s with decisive diligence. And finally, most importantly, she culminates where the book begins, in the fear of the Lord, in the very beginning of knowledge and wisdom.

The woman of Proverbs 31 is not simply a wise woman, she is the embodiment of Wisdom.

That is the type of woman one should like. That is the type of woman one should strive to be.

-djstevens