Today’s scripture: Proverbs 3:21-26 (NRSV) (The Message)

As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me in this passage? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two before reading on.

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

Our scripture today focuses on instructions for living a peaceful, Godly life. We are encouraged to always keep and use sound judgment and discernment. Discernment is allowing God and the Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and direct our paths. We are told that to cherish and celebrate these traits will lead to long abundant life. The text admonishes us to keep these things in view and to not lose sight.

It seems so easy to become distracted by things that are not of God. One of my biggest personal struggles is worry. Many people see me as a happy-go-lucky guy that isn’t rattled by much. The truth is I worry a lot. I worry about my job, my car, my family, my health, and my future. There are times when sleep eludes me. It’s as if when I lay my head down to rest my brain begins to shift into overdrive. Perhaps you’ve felt the same.

But we just read that if we keep our minds trained on the things of God our sleep will be peaceful and our worries will seem unimportant. I have learned that my worry will not change the outcome of a particular situation. Learning from mistakes and asking God for guidance is a much better way to see results.

We have been given the tools to compete and win in this world. As all good tools though, they need to continually be sharpened. How do we keep out tools of sound judgment and discernment sharp? We must stay close to God and continually train ourselves to hear God. When we begin each day out with the study of the Holy words and prayer we are training our hearts and minds to stay focused on the things of God.

It is easy to lose sight of what is important in this life. Staying in touch with God’s word through study and prayer helps us to stay focused and on the right track.

Thought for the day: God will keep me safe by guiding my way.

Today, let’s join together in prayer for: the Southwest Oasis, and the folks who make it happen: host Byrian Ramsey and leader Jeff Waltz.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. Use the item above as a starting point, or consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 at 12:01 am and is filed under Encouragement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.