Read
–20–
3Use wisdom and understanding
to establish your home;
4let good sense fill the rooms
with priceless treasures.
Reflect
What do we value the most? Answers will vary from one person to another, but sometimes our good words do not match our actions. Are we willing to take a possibly uncomfortable test? Let us take a look around our homes. What do we most noticeably spend our money on? It will tell us what we really value. If there are three expensive cars in the garage, that fact communicates. What about loads of high tech gadgets? Or a carefully and beautifully designed presentation in room after room – one which children could only disrupt? Or loads of sports items? Or . . .
This proverb reminds us there is something more important than stuff. It is wisdom. Can we fill our home with good sense? If there are children, will they grow up absorbing the reality – because it was lived – that faith lived with divinely inspired wisdom is the solid foundation for any home? Some verses to ponder: “The love of money causes all kinds of trouble.” (1 Timothy 6:10) “Religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have.” (1 Timothy 6:6) “The wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.” (James 3:17,18) These are the “priceless treasures” that will build our homes.
Respond
God, our constant refuge, whose way alone provides security for this life and eternity, teach us over and over by your Spirit the worth of your wisdom, that we may pursue it above all other things and establish our homes in this good sense, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Axel Schoeber
Axel Schoeber has been an elementary teacher; a Baptist pastor for 27 years in Jasper, Calgary, Penticton and Victoria; and is now Associate Professor of Supervised Ministry at Carey Theological College in Vancouver. He supervisors the field education of pastors and others preparing for ministries and teaches Reimagining the Educational Mission of the Church and Baptist Identity. He directs the Mentored Ministry program for the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada, and loves his family. Publications: ‘“Christian Society”: A More Influential Concept Than Often Understood?’ http://www.csrs.uvic.ca ‘John Calvin and the “Still-born” Third Option in the French Reformation’ in Calvin@500: Theology, History, and Practice, Richard R. Topping and John A. Vissers, ed. (Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick, 2011)