April 1st, 2024

Good morning (et cetera) - greetings and salutations, dear Reader! Welcome to yet another day above ground (how blessed are we, right?)

Today is the first day of the month so I'll be sharing Proverbs 1 today, this time from the NIV Bible. 
Behold, the Word of the Lord:

Purpose and Theme

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;
for understanding words of insight;

3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
doing what is right and just and fair;

4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]
knowledge and discretion to the young—

5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,
and let the discerning get guidance—

6 for understanding proverbs and parables,
the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b]

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction.

Prologue: Exhortations to Embrace Wisdom

Warning Against the Invitation of Sinful Men

8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

9 They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.

10 My son, if sinful men entice you,
do not give in to them.

11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for innocent blood,
let’s ambush some harmless soul;

12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;

14 cast lots with us;
we will all share the loot”—

15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;

16 for their feet rush into evil,
they are swift to shed blood.

17 How useless to spread a net
where every bird can see it!

18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they ambush only themselves!

19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the life of those who get it.

Wisdom’s Rebuke

20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
 she raises her voice in the public square;

21 on top of the wall[d] she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:

22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery 
and fools hate knowledge?

23 Repent at my rebuke!
Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,
I will make known to you my teachings.

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call
and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand,

25 since you disregard all my advice
and do not accept my rebuke,

26 I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—

27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me,

29 since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord.

30 Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Footnotes

Proverbs 1:4 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs denotes a person who is gullible, without moral direction and inclined to evil.

Proverbs 1:6 Or understanding a proverb, namely, a parable, / and the sayings of the wise, their riddles

Proverbs 1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote a person who is morally deficient.
Proverbs 1:21 Septuagint; Hebrew / at noisy street corners

Sophocles, one of the great thinkers from human history. It is shocking how many people (especially Americans) these days choose to look up to professional athletes and entertainers as acceptable models of morality. How does winning an Oscar qualify anyone on the planet for anything other than "hey, you're a good actor"?!🤔

How did we degenerate so far as a society to this point? 

Where are all the modern intellectuals? 

So, call me old fashioned if you will, I won't even argue with you. I seek Wisdom and Truth out first and foremost from the Source Himself, Jesus Christ. Regarding my fellow mortals, I turn to those who teach and preach the Word and listen to sermons and lessons from various Judeo-Christian religions (Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, Catholic, Church of Christ, honestly the denomination bears little if any relevance provided the Gospel is being preached without compromise, which is why we have to take what we hear and search those things out in the Word ourselves). 
Other mortals that I let speak to/ cause me to examine and question my own morality are the great minds from human history, any and all of them. Sophocles, Socrates, Cicero, even Nietzsche (whose name is very hard to spell for me, I have to copy it from some other source to get it right every time, it's just one of those words for me). It just makes sense to me, these ancient thinkers are still relevant and sought out today, I'm one of the (what I hope are many) seekers. Of course, a Christian, I can't just take all philosophers' words at face value; I have to compare them to the last word, the Word of God, and let go of any and all that is not in agreement.
Here is a worshipful, encouraging song from Psalm 121:

And here are the lyrics (Psalm 121):Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—

    where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord,

    the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—

    he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel

    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you—

    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,

    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—

    he will watch over your life;

8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going

    both now and forevermore.

Keep seeking truth and you will find it. Take care; be blessed, have a good day and thank you for stopping by. 💙