Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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10 Mar 11
Greetings, special people.
There is enough light outside at present that allows me to see the dirty brown color of the creek wooshing by at a good clip. Wind is sure blowing around the branches on the cedars.
Big list for the day. Hope I can make some substantial headway. I just need to remember that THE JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH.
Be blessed. Love, Dad/Ray
10 March 2011
Proverbs 10
Focus: “The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.” Proverbs 10:16.
It’s easy to recognize the parallel we have here with the well-known New Testament declaration of Romans 6:23. The only difference is that the contrasting poles on the scale are presented in opposite order. But the message is essentially the same. It makes me wonder if this proverb from Solomon actually served as an inspiration base for Paul’s statement in Romans. Let’s take a moment to inspect the parallel. Maybe we can label the poles as GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS.
GOOD NEWS. Romans: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Proverbs: “The wages of the righteous brings them life.”
Only those who pursue right standing with God, the basis of RIGHTEOUSNESS, get the GIFT. I see no conflict here between GIFT and WAGES as both are the direct result of that pursuit. The reward or payment is LIFE—LIFE here and now, and LIFE forevermore. Is there any better NEWS in the universe?
In this regard, it wouldn’t be out of line to respond this way the next time someone asks, “How much are you making?” “Oh, somewhere around a million years per hour!” The point is that there is no way one can ascribe a time or monetary value to ETERNAL LIFE.
BAD NEWS. Romans: “The wages of sin is death.” Proverbs: “The income of the wicked brings them punishment.”
One is a WICKED SINNER, not by virtue of all the rotten things they have done, but by virtue of the unchanged default settings of their NATURAL SIN NATURE. So failure to pursue right standing with God, which is man’s only hope for change (salvation), is the same as accepting or confirming one’s default settings.
To conclude this spin, I want to quote verse 28 of this chapter (Proverbs 10). “The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.” I can’t imagine any better fuel for a RIGHTEOUS life than JOY. And I can’t imagine any more dismal approach to life than having NO HOPE. And I don’t seem to have any difficulty determining which option is WISDOM and which is FOOLISH.
“We are never beneath hope while above hell; nor are we above hope while beneath heaven.”