Meal Groups at Crossroads Church

The Art of Skillful Living

S:  Proverbs 3:13-15 "Happy is the person who finds wisdom and gains understanding.  For the profit of wisdom is better than silver, and her wages are better than gold.  Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her."

O:  These verses are so counter-cultural.  Our culture would say:  Happy is the person who gets filthy rich.  We prefer the "profit of profit" over the "profit of wisdom" any day.  Maybe that's why our society is so miserable.  We have a glut of stuff and a shortage of wisdom.  And we wonder why our finances and families are a mess.  Where's the wisdom?  When will we learn?  The author of Proverbs is trying to show us that wisdom is supreme.  Drop everything and pursue it.  When you get it--when you learn to live skillfully from God's perspective--you have something worth more than all the silver, gold, and rubies in the world. 

A:  These verses are a great motivation to keep at this practice of doing daily devotions in the Word of God.  Every time we open the Bible and let it sink into our minds/souls, we become wiser.  I want to pursue this wisdom more than I pursue anything else.  I want to be a "person of the Book".  I want to be wise.  I want to live Biblically.  I want to tap into God's mind and God's heart.  So I commit myself to this discipline of daily time sitting at the feet of the One who is all-wise.  I invite you to do the same. 

P:  Father, teach us to live well.  Give us your perspective as we raise kids, manage money, make decisions, do our jobs, plan for the future, deal with conflict, and relate to others.  We commit ourselves to the practice of learning from the Scriptures for the long haul.  Amen.

 

JAMES BROWN: THE HILLS HAVE EYES (PSALM 8; PROVERBS 2)

SCRIPTURE
Psalm 8.22-23, 25:  The LORD brought me [Wisdom/Truth] forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began...Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth.

OBSERVATION
As I write this, I am flying over the mountains of Washington state.  I have spent the last four days in Seattle, Washington, looking at the greenest grass I have seen in the last three months...and all that I saw (especially Mt. Ranier) was absolutely breathtaking.

But these sites pale in comparison to the beauty of Truth.  Proverbs says that the one thing that God put into motion long before any of his other aesthetically pleasing sites, was Truth.

The rhythm of what is true is the fabric of all that we perceive as reality.  In spite of the attempts at hiding absolute truth, ultimate reality will always find ways to reveal itself...love will always be better than hate...generosity will always trump greed...forgiveness will always win over bitterness.

APPLICATION
It is hard for me not to bow down when I enter into discussions surrounding truth as relative.  It is hard to argue against the support of perceived reality...with the endless need to define terms, it is very difficult (emotionally) to say anything with certainty.

But God calls us to pull up our cultural roots and plunge them deeply into God's divine reservoir called...TRUTH.

PRAYER
Father...You are the Way...the Truth...and the Life.  Give me eyes to see your road and the courage to choose your way to experience life!  Amen.