Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly. A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:22-24.) Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. This is one of those verses half the worlds population needs to remember at ALL times, especially when feelings would have otherwise. I thank God for my wife and when Im feeling bitter about my partner, even more so. Fact is, she shaves the rough edges off me. Yeah, it hurts. They still need to go. ~1,000 years later another prophet of God writes, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:25.) Ill never forget a wise lady in a Bible study 35 years ago asking simply which do we think is more difficult: to obey or to love as Christ loves, giving Himself for her? We ALL obey if we would call ourselves Christian. But half of us in the church are called to give ourselves so that the other is built up in believing and trusting Jesus Christ, whatever the cost. Ever complain about the male being in charge? Heh heh, thats why God put the male in charge: He also directs the male to SERVE those hes in charge of. Thus, a wife is a good thing because she leads the husband to living the way God would have us live: humbly, sacricially, serving others, esteeming others better than ourselves. Difficult? Hoo boy, of course. God doesnt care. Do it and ask His help with the difficulty. Obtains favor of Yehovah in case you wanted the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE TO HELP YOU OUT ON SOMETHING this is how to get that help. Or, as the Apostle Peter put it, Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered (1 Peter 3:7.) Conversely, The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly. In other words, humans do what they can get away with. Since the poor have nothing to recommend themselves, they must be polite. Since the rich can buy what they want, they can afford to default to their flesh and lusts and demand, bargain, buy low, sell high, and basicaly be selfish jerks around other humans. Other humans put up with this from rich people out of a mere hope to get some of the wealth these folks have. Then theres the Dietrich Bonhoeffer philosophy: Money is dirt. That is, money is what we should use to grow other things, such as Gods word (which is what Dietrich always spent his familys money on.) Since he was unique, Satan had to get rid of him (missed the end of WWII by 1 week, too.) Now apply this to v. 22: how many wealthy couples end up divorcing exactly because the money gives (they think) permission to act the selfish jerk. Statistically, almost every couple who wins the lottery ends up divorcing exactly because the sudden appearance of cash enables them. Oh, gosh, should we welcome things that limit our ability to express our evil and selfishnes? Thank God when you have no choice but to behave yourself. Thus, the last verse in the chapter, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. I mentioned Homeless Kevin I used to know: he died alone in the back of Radio Shack parking lot. He could have had friends, but would never show himself friendly. He did briefly as his con to get somewhere to hang out (which was at my neighbors backyard, which was how I knew of him), but even then he defaulted to his unfriendly behavior and got himself evicted. I mention him as an example illustrating how this is literally true. My own mom antagonized everyone she knew, even her own children. 1 of them was around when she died, and pretty much the only real company she had was the TV (talk about solitary confinement!) That said, now the rest of the sentence: There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. That would be Jesus Christ, but the mass of humanity spends its time insulting Jesus Christ. He wants to be our Savior, our Lord, our guide, our FRIEND. We want to tell him to get lost, leave us alone. Heh, ultimately, Jesus Christ gives this mass of humanity exactly what they ask for and sets them up to be left alone by God . . . forever. Some few realize this person is their best friend and embrace Him, cling to Him, listen to Him, and even do what He says because they realize the combination of infinte love and infinite wisdom cannot be ignored, only trusted. Or put another way, Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (Hebrews 13:5.)
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:46:43 +0000
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