Planning Our Own Course

Day 165: Jeremiah 10-16

Jeremiah 10:23-25. Hear the words of Jeremiah, the prophet:

"I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die."

This passage is interesting to me for a variety of reasons. The first sentence ("I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.") speaks true to me. This life I have is a gift; the lives we all have are gifts--gifts from the Lord. He decides when we live and when we die, and he is in control, literally, of our lives.

The second sentence, however, doesn't ring quite so true to me. We are able to plan our own course. We decide where we live, what we do with our lives, how we raise our children. We decide whether we go to church and, if so, where we go. We decide how we treat people, what sins we commit, and how we love. We are in control of many aspects of our lives.

So, what else might Jeremiah be saying in this sentence? He could be talking about predestination. Many church faiths believe that God has called people--a select few--before the creation of the world, and that those few are already predestined to follow God. My religious faith does not believe this principle. We believe that anybody can become a child of God. Perhaps God already knows who will make the decision to follow Him, but he allows us to make this choice rather than pre-selecting it for us. I tend to agree with my church heritage because I believe in free will.

So what else could he be saying? If you look at it within the context of Israel--the people who was selected by God to be his people--then it seems that we could also read this passage from that of a people who are already committed to the Lord. For these people--people who want to live a life committed to the Lord--then many of the decisions are determined by God's words to us, his instructions on how we should live, how we should treat people, and how we can become more like Christ in our daily lives. When we look at that sentence through this lens, then we can read it differently. Our decision to become a Christian and our decision to commit to God should, theoretically, lead us to give our lives away. Less of self and more of thee. We no longer make our own decisions; instead, the decisions we make are shaped and formed by our decision to live a life for the Lord. Wow. How amazing is that!

And the last part, verse 24, is so human. Jeremiah says, "So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die." Have you ever prayed a prayer like that? For God to be gentle and kind, rather than harsh and angry? Have you prayed for God to "correct you"? Perhaps we can see more about how kingdom life by reading these words. More about humanity. More about our Lord. More about ourselves and the plans we have for our lives.

Pray for Wisdom

Day 136: Proverbs 9-12

I like how wisdom is personified in Proverbs, how she is given human characteristics. So far in my reading of Proverbs, I notice how much emphasis is placed on getting wisdom. Wisdom is looking for you, and you should look for it. Wisdom will also give you a long life, so seek wisdom. This week, I continue praying for wisdom. I feel some peace after praying this prayer this week, and I am confident that once I pray for wisdom, I will be better able to discern what the right decisions are for me. Many of these proverbs seem like rules for living, maxims to make a better life for yourself. But when you read these together, the focus is on wisdom and on making wise and righteous decisions.

Get Wisdom

Day 134: Proverbs 1-4

Tonight, I have been reminded by Proverbs the importance of seeking wisdom, insight, and understanding. I consider myself a wise person. I don't say this to brag, but I do think it's one of the gifts God has given me. Yet still, discerning what is wise can be so difficult, especially when the decision is a difficult one. I'm reminded that I should go to God when I need this wisdom. Proverbs tells us to search for wisdom like you would hidden treasures. Seek wisdom by asking God for it. Proverbs 3 says,

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes;  fear the LORD and shun evil."

So you gain wisdom by seeking God. In the midst of important decisions I have to make right now, I am reminded to seek wisdom, to get wisdom.

Wisdom? Really?

Day 66: I Kings 10-13

Solomon accumulated great wealth during his lifetime. No one had more wealth, and no one had more wisdom. However, even with all of Solomon's wisdom, he disobeyed God. He married many foreign women (most likely to gain more wealth) from countries that God specifically forbade the Israelites from marrying (He had over 700 wives and 300 concubines!). Solomon chose to disobey God and turn away from the Lord. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not follow God as his father David had done.

Solomon's choice to turn away from God is puzzling to me. Isn't Solomon the wisest person in the world? Wouldn't a wise person know not to break God's covenant? And at the very least wouldn't a wise person know that he/she should fear God? Maybe there is more than one type of wisdom. Or maybe he was wise as king and not wise when it came to personal matters. I don't know. I can only infer, but it does seem that Solomon has extensive wisdom as a king. He casts fair judgments. He is a knowledgeable and smart businessman. He demonstrates intellectual acumen and intelligence on more than one occasion. BUT he makes very poor personal decisions. He disobeys God and makes treaties (marries) with several different countries. He allows his people to worship many different gods. And he turns away from the Lord. This doesn't seem so wise to me.

So here we have a man to whom God gives wisdom, and Solomon does not use this wisdom when it comes to following God. He uses his wisdom to establish his own reputation, to gain wealth, to gain fame and pride. He doesn't use the wisdom to understand that God is the ultimate king; he doesn't follow God like David does.

What talents and gifts have you been given that you are not using, or that you are using inappropriately? Maybe you are an amazing artist (painter, gardener, cook, musician, writer), and you don't take the time to use these gifts. Or maybe you have the gift of communication. Or personality. Or empathy. Or whatever. Are you using these talents? These gifts? Are you using them to honor God, or are you only using them to bring fame and power to yourself?

God ultimately punishes Solomon's decisions for the sins of their father, and I think that one of these reasons might be because Solomon does not honor God with his gift of wisdom; instead, he becomes selfish and uses this trait to bring glory to himself.

Elizabeth and the Ten Plagues

After reading about the ten plagues. I had an idea of an activity to do with Elizabeth. So when I got home from work last night, Elizabeth and I sat down at the table, got out markers, glue, magazines, and scissors, and we went to work. First, I read her the story of each plague. Then, we went to work creating a posterboard of the ten plagues. Here is what she made.

We couldn't find magazine pictures of frogs, gnats, flies, locusts, or hail, so we just drew them ourselves. Note that I'm going to have to go back and change where I wrote "Boils" on #7. That's supposed to say "Hail." As you can tell, she did a great job drawing boils in #6!

I had my computer on the table with us and whenever we couldn't find something in the magazines, I searched for a picture of the item on the internet. Elizabeth said to me, "Mommy, you have A LOT of pictures on your computer. You have pictures of EVERYTHING!" It was really cute.

Some of the plagues stories scared Elizabeth (and me, too). But we talked about that--about why might God choose to kill firstborn children or livestock or fish. While we didn't always have answers, it helps to talk about it and to discuss the topic instead of pretend that it is just normal. We also talked about Pharaoh's choices and how had he made better choices or obeyed God earlier, then he and his people would not have suffered like they did. It's about obedience. Obeying God and humbling ourselves.

Overall, we had a great time doing this together. I like how what I am reading in the Bible is permeating other areas of my life. I'm also thinking and reflecting on what I read and what I write many times during the day.