September 2, Day 245 – Being At Home With the Lord
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Looking at Proverbs 21 again today – verses 17-26 – we notice several nuggets of wisdom to apply in our daily Christian lives. For example, “He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never become rich” (verse 17). Essentially, this means that a person who gives himself or herself exclusively to pleasure or to wine will eventually be caught up in these things, and they will become unnecessary distractions. Proverbs teaches us to live a wise life of balance – not somewhere in life’s excesses and extremes. A life totally given over to pleasure or to alcohol is a lopsided life that lacks discipline, order, and restraint. Such a life quickly loses control. Living an uncontrolled life leads ultimately to a bad end. Where’s the wisdom in that? Two verses later, we see that living with a “quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife is worse that living in a desert” (verse 19). In other words, it would be both wiser and easier to struggle for the necessities of life than to struggle with a cranky woman. A wise man “stores up choice food and oil, but the fool devours all he has” (verse 20). A balanced life thinks ahead. By contrast, wisdom guides the “pursuit of righteousness and love” which leads to “life, prosperity, and honor” (verse 21). These proverbs are simply the certified truths of our LORD, “against Whom no wisdom, insight, or plan can succeed” (verse 30). God is saying this: “generations have tried to violate My truth, but no one has ever triumphed over it.” Thus, these statements should become a part of our daily occupation in living unto the Lord.
In Micah 5:1-6:2, we read one of the most important prophecies in all of Scripture – the birthplace of the Messiah. His “origins are from of old – from ancient times” (verse 2). The passage contains several related prophecies as well – that “Israel would be abandoned” (verse 3), and that Messiah would “stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD – in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God, and He will be their peace” (verses 4-5). Micah prophesies that God will put down Assyria, which also foreshadows God’s dealings with His enemies in the future. He says, “the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples,” pointing to the captivities and dispersions of the Israelites among the nations. In addition, God will not only put down “the witchcraft and idolatry [i.e., “images”] of His people,” but also “He will take vengeance upon the nations that have disobeyed Him” (verses 12-15). This chapter addresses many of the prophetic, redemptive activities that the Messiah Himself will lead. What a glorious prophetic section of God’s Word!
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-10, we notice how Paul equates this proverbial theme of living a wise life of balance (cf., 2 Corinthians 5:5) with beingat home with the Lord” (verse 8). Paul says that, in this world, we are caught between two extremes – living at home in the body or being away from the body and at home with the Lord” (verse 8). “It is God Who has made us for this very purpose, and He has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (verse 5). God does not want us to become too comfortable here – like the pleasure-seeker, the man in the desert, or the glutton of Proverbs 21. By God’s design, we live “in a tent, and we groan and are burdened because … we long to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life” (verse 4). Only God’s gift of the Holy Spirit – our “Deposit” – can enable us to live a wise, balanced life between any extremes. This is why Paul declares, “So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it” (verse 9).
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