I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs a ton lately and I must say, I don’t read it enough. And I should probably read at least one chapter a day for the rest of my life. Note to self…
As I’m plowing through the book, it’s most interesting to see two-part themes–those with contrasted and opposing ideas–develop that help distinguish between those on the good side of wisdom and those on its bad side. Here are some of the themes I’ve picked up on (I’m about halfway through the book):
- Wisdom vs foolishness
- Diligence vs laziness
- Righteousness vs wickedness
- Listeners vs scoffers
- Truthfulness vs deceitfulness
- Remembering vs forgetting (God’s goodness)
All of the bolded words fall into the realm of wisdom and the non-bolded words, foolishness. As I read, I feel compelled to act as a man of wisdom. I feel God’s sweet conviction as he peels away at my foolishness and pokes at my folly. It stings so bitterly and feels so encouraging at the same time. Perhaps this proverb explains the upside:
My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.Proverbs 3:11-12
There are other stingers to be sure; just about every other verse. That’s the point of this post: to share 3 Proverbs that are rocking my face off. And more relevantly, how they are rocking my marriage (and hopefully yours).
3 proverbs that are rocking our marriage
Proverb #1: Working our land vs worthless pursuits
Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread,
but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.Proverbs 12:11
This proverb is about stewardship, focus, gratefulness, and wisdom. I’ll explain…
Many times we tend to play the comparison game with people around us. We try to keep up, so we get into unhealthy habits like being ungrateful for what we’ve been given, or spending in ways that aren’t wise.
For me (as a husband and the main income provider in our family), I feel convicted about the things I spend my working life pursuing. I have lots of ideas, maybe even lots of great ideas, but they’re not great for us. If I pursue “good” ideas and sacrifice God’s ideas, I’m pursuing the wrong things. God has placed his call on us in a specific way for this season: to point couples to Him and help them build lifelong marriages based on Christ. If I don’t focus on “working our land”, I can get caught up in “worthless pursuits”, or rather, pursuits that are worthless in comparison to what God has called us to do.
Finally, this proverb reminds us not to spend our time in the “far off” lands of Facebook, Instagram, or whatever other phone-vortex tries to steal our focus and time. Our land includes our marriage, our family, and our quality time together. We’re learning to put our (expletive) phones away and just be PRESENT together.
Summary: be grateful for the “land” we’ve been given, pursue God’s call before (sometimes good) distractions, and don’t follow worthless pursuits in the form of screen-based media.
In the next post
Sorry to do this, but this post is longer than I planned so I’m going to break it into another part. Stay tuned for numbers 2 and 3. I promise I’ll post them tomorrow morning! The next two things should prove very helpful – I know they have for us.
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UPDATE: Part 2 has been posted here!
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Have you heard of the The 31-Day Pursuit Challenge?
Every marriage begins with passion, purpose, and pursuit, but few stay that way. That’s why we wrote Husband in Pursuit and Wife in Pursuit Together, they make what we’re calling the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge. Couples are encouraged take the challenge together. We’re already starting to hear stories of transformed marriages! Are you up for the challenge?
