Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
A king’s wrath strikes terror like the roar of a lion;
    those who anger him forfeit their lives.
It is to one’s honor to avoid strife,
    but every fool is quick to quarrel.
Sluggards do not plow in season;
    so at harvest time they look but find nothing.
The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters,
    but one who has insight draws them out.
Many claim to have unfailing love,
    but a faithful person who can find?
The righteous lead blameless lives;
    blessed are their children after them.

• Proverbs 20:1-7

Proverbs 20:3 ” ‘Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you’ (Colossians 3:13). Unity doesn’t begin in examining others but in examining self. Unity begins not in demanding that others change, but in admitting that we aren’t so perfect ourselves …
“The answer to arguments? Acceptance. The first step to unity? Acceptance. Not agreement, acceptance. Not unanimity, acceptance. Not negotiation, arbitration, or elaboration. Those might come later but only after the first step, acceptance.”

• Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace

Proverbs 20:1 says that alcohol creates strife, then verse 3 says to avoid strife.  Of course, verse 3 includes people who are sober, but the combination does not look pretty.

Proverbs 20:2 is an unfortunate aspect of having supreme rule.  When the king gets angry at you, you could lose your life.  Wisdom for the person going before the king is to be careful what you say and check to see what kind of a mood the king is in first.  Wisdom for the king is to not be quick tempered, which I think is Solomon’s point.

Farmers who are lazy often go hungry.  When it is the season for each step of the process, the farmer must be on top of it.  It could rain next week, and the ground could be too wet, and there goes the growing season.

A good advisor to the king is one who can dig deep to find the purpose of someone’s heart.

Proverbs 20:6-7 are companion proverbs to an extent.  A truly faithful person is hard to find.  Maybe the reason for that is that you also need to be a righteous person who is blameless.  I thought I was living a blameless life, but my sons might disagree with the blessing part.

And now let us sing.

The following song is Fighting for Me.  This is sung by Riley Clemmons. We can avoid the strife when we let Jesus fight for us.  And in Jesus, we find the faithful person, righteous person, and blameless person.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  As the song says, You will never stop fighting for me.  Help me to remember that the next time someone tries to goad me a bit.  I want to thank you Lord for not tempting me with alcohol.  And thank you Lord for having great sergeants that allowed me to calm down before I confronted the commander over an unwise command he had given.  I would not have lost my life, but it would not have ended pretty.  And as I am writing this, I am comfortably ahead of my writing schedule, but sometimes, you nudge me a bit just to get out of bed in the morning.  Thank you for those nudges too.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.