“But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself rather to godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).

Have you ever wondered why Paul had to warn Christians not to be susceptible to old wives’ tales? Not to be gullible? Not to fall into funny little superstitions that are passed around through the women?

Obviously he’s not just warning the women not to fall into this trap – he’s admonishing the men too. But notice what he’s telling them to stay away from. He doesn’t want any children of God to fall prey to the silly stories that women tend to be especially good at passing back and forth to each other. This, I think, makes it obvious that it’s a temptation that might be especially strong for women – and maybe we need to examine ourselves to see if we’ve slipped into this anywhere. Read More

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

Years ago I taught a poetry elective to some high school students. One of the things that I had them do was memorize some famous lines of poetry, but instead of leaving the line as a stand alone, memorize the surrounding verses. It often adds quite a bit of understanding to the whole thing. Surprise surprise, most often these things have context, and the context adds something rather valuable.

This verse about bringing our cares before God is exactly one of these sorts of events. Let’s look at just the line before it –

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

And just one half verse before that: ” for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”

So today I am at the grocery store. Just for a couple things, which is good, because I only have a couple of minutes. Read More

He who has knowledge spares his words,

And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.

It is a sort of standing joke in our house that we can tell we need to tighten up on discipline when we find ourselves talking way too much. Of course all discipline should start with self discipline. And the words in question of course are not words of a story, or words of pleasant conversation. We are talking about words of correction. Whenever we find ourselves being wordy, it is usually because we have not been following through. So beginning with ourselves, we need to tighten things up. A non- biblical proverb that applies to this is the old “a stitch in time saves nine.” So also, a calm word in advance saves nine hasty ones in the future. And one moment of self discipline saves a great wave of discipline problems. Read More

Galations 6:9-10 says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

And we have a similar thought in 2 Thess. 3:13: “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.”

From these verses, we can gather than it is common for us to grow weary of doing good. Why else would the Apostle Paul feel it necessary to mention this not once, but twice? Is weariness a sin?

I think there are two kinds of weariness. The first kind is how we might feel at the end of a very productive and tiring day. We are tired or even exhausted from our labors. This kind of weariness is to be expected. I don’t think being tired is a sin, but a good sign.

But there is another kind of weariness. Consider these comments and think of others like them: “I grow weary of the baby’s crying.” “I am tired of homeschooling.” “I am sick of picking up after you.” “I am weary of having guests.”

You get the idea. That kind of weariness is more like impatience than exhaustion. This kind of weariness is discontent. It is dissatisfied, feeling put upon. This kind of weariness has begun to view “good works” as tedious bothers. “Let someone else do it. I never get thanked or noticed anyway.” This kind of weariness is sinful. It bears sour fruit.

So this explains why Paul would mention this temptation to us. We can grow weary of doing good. Again. Here’s the admonishment: Don’t grow discontent with serving others. Keep taking every opportunity you have to do good, especially to your fellow saints. Don’t lose heart! God sees your labors. You may be tired, but you don’t have to grow weary. In due time, you will see a harvest of good things from all those seeds that you put in the ground. Hang on! Don’t give up! Press on!

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

But a just weight is His delight.”

I was recently struck by how many times this theme comes up in Scripture. It is in the Old Testament law (Leviticus 19:35-36, Deuteronomy 25:13-15),and it is mentioned four times in Proverbs. Here, and again in Proverbs 16:11, Proverbs  20:10, and Proverbs 20:23.

God values accuracy. He wants His people to honestly deal with one another. None of this rounding up when it helps you and down when it doesn’t. We are to be people of truth. Now I am imagining that many of us do not daily deal with actual weights and measures. We are probably not in the habit of ripping people off in our Old West dry goods store. So it may seem that this scriptural emphasis is not terribly relevant in our times, or at least in our lives. So let’s consider for a moment some of the ways that we are inclined to use unequal weights and measures in our lives. Read More

Psalm 118:15 says this: “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.”

Because we are a transformed people, made new in the image of Christ, our homes are different from the other homes on the block. The homes of the unsaved are full of the sounds of bickering, murmuring, conflicts, and strife, and these sounds sometimes drift across the street. It is their nature to be at odds with one another, children against parents, husbands against wives, neighbor against neighbor. We should not expect non-Christians to act like Christians. But we should expect Christians to behave like Christians, especially when we consider ourselves (not our neighbor).

The tents of the righteous are filled with the sounds of salvation. And what does salvation sound like? It sounds like joy. Rejoicing. Lots of singing, and not just at Christmas. When the kids are playing in the back yard and you call them in for dinner, the neighbors should hear the sounds of salvation. When your windows are open in the warm weather, the sounds of salvation and rejoicing should be floating out across the neighborhood. Imagine walking through a neighborhood with these sounds coming out of every house Read More