The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/proverbs/24.htm

Proverbs 21:9: Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Proverbs 24:24: It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Just what is Solomon trying to tell us?

All joking aside, not only do some of these proverbs address the same subject, many are very close to the same wording, and in this case, they are literally the same wording. I do not know why this scripture is repeated, nor is it really important.

Again, even those many of these proverbs are similar, it is still wise to read them and take them to heart.

Moving on to Proverbs 28, Verse 9, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.” It is one thing to know God’s law and sin, but to ignore the law, is even worse. It’s not my place to call out any particular denomination or religion, but one has even taken one of the commandments completely out, then divided another commandment into two parts to take it’s place. Now that, is ignoring the law at the highest. It would be no different if you read the Bible and highlighted the verses you liked, then cross out the verses you didn’t like. And as Solomon says, if you ignore God’s law, your prayers are an abomination to the Lord.

Verse 13: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” This is obviously an Old Testament verse. And even those who believe in the Trinity often separate Jesus from God, and refer to God as the wrathful Father and Jesus is the forgiving Son. So even if you separate God from Jesus, this verse here tells you about the mercy of God. He loves us, and when we sin, He will forgive our sins if we confess them to Him, and if we make every attempt to repent. Remember, God is Jesus and Jesus is God; our Heavenly Father has the same loving and merciful character as what we have to come recognize in Jesus Christ.

And finally, Verse 27: “He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.” What would you think if I asked you to start a recurring donation of $50 a month to a charitable organization, one that is automatically charged to your debit card or bank account? Many would say, “That’s a little steep, I might go for $25, or $10.”

How much do you spend when you eat out. And I’m not talking about going to a sit down restaurant, I’m talking fast food. I have a family of four…we can’t even get out of a fast food drive-thru lane for less than $30, and here lately, prices have increased to the point that it is often $40 and sometime $50! Yet, we continue to head to the burger joint and supersize everything. If you gave up one or two nights of eating out per month, depending on how much you spend each visit, you could donate that money to those less fortunate.

And this is not a paid advertisement, but since we are on the subject of recurring donations, one of my favorite charities is the Salvation Army. In May of 1955 (before I was born) a destructive F5 tornado tore through Blackwell, OK causing massive damage, killing 20 and injuring 200 people, then briefly lifted before crossing the Kansas State Line and dropping down again, this time heading straight for Udall, Kansas. Udall was virtually wiped off the map, and over 80 people died and nearly 300 were injured. As a Kansas in the middle of tornado alley, stories like that strike close to home.

There were some videos on YouTube of someone that interviewed survivors of the tornado. By that time, they were of advanced age, but as you can imagine, their memories of surviving such an event had to be very vivid, making a lasting impression. One told the story about how they were spending the night with an aunt and uncle in a nearby town, and didn’t ge the news until the middle of the night. It isn’t like today when communications were varied and prevalent, In fact, they blame many of those deaths on the lack of warning, because TV stations back then didn’t break into programming to provide weather coverage, and since the tornado struck close to the 11 p.m. hour, most everyone had went to bed.

This survivor said that they got up early and headed for Udall, arriving right about daybreak, and he made specific mention of this fact. When they arrived, the Salvation Army was already on scene, feeding and providing necessities for those who had lost their homes and possession in the tornado. They were there long before any other relief organization arrived. This victim was very impressed with the Salvation Army, and he impressed that onto me as well.

Spring is getting closer, and even though it is still technically winter, our nation has already suffered from some deadly tornadoes, in fact just last week, we had a tornado come within 7 miles of my home. That said, if you’re looking to give money where it will have a good impact, consider the Salvation Army. And they are also a very humble organization; you usually do not see them standing in front of the news cameras bragging about all of their accomplishments.