2016 picture of Ray Sparre

Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67



These devotional messages are personalized as messages to Ray's granddaughter, Samara.

10 December 2016

Good morning, Samara.

I don’t know if you are aware, but a large percentage of the world’s population write the date like I did above—placing the number for the day ahead of the month, then followed by the year. That’s the date style we followed both in the Solomon Islands and in Vanuatu. I kind of got used to that style and decided to carry on with it—partly just to be different.

Ray's pole barn projectTo be sure, there are a lot of differences—even among English speakers. For example, we are very familiar with lumber sizes like 2x4 and 2x6. But in the Solomon Islands, if you walked into a place selling lumber and said you wanted a 2x4, they might respond, “What?” Or they might say, “Do you mean a 4x2?” I even had to become familiar with the metric sizes—so a 2x4 (or 4x2) is actually a 50x100—milameters that is.

Speaking of lumber, I ran my sawmill last evening—right up past dark—thankful for the nice lighting I now have in my mill shed. I needed to turn out some 1x4s and 1x6s to be used in finishing up a pole barn project that’s pushing on me. I need those pieces for making the barn doors. Just for fun, maybe I’ll stick on a photo of what that project looks like and where I will hopefully have the doors hung today. It was very cold the day I took the photo. I could not function very well if it were not for the little fire I had going in the lower right for warming my hands.

Anyway, let’s give some attention to Proverbs 10. In so doing it’s hard for me to be selective and focus on just one verse or idea. Every verse deserves focus and discussion. I have chosen verse 9. Let’s see what we can talk about there.

Have a great day. Love, Tua.


Proverbs 10
Focus: "The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” Proverbs 10:9.

The word that grabs my attention here is “integrity.” I’m not a great math person. I could not do an algebra or geometry equation at present if my life depended on it—not without a refresher course. I forget it all. But I do remember that the word “integrity” is based on a mathematical term—“integer.” Just to help my memory I did a little Google search for the definition—and landed on this site: https://www.mathsisfun.com/definitions/integer.html You might want to check it out. The basic definition of an integer is A NON-FRACTIONAL NUMBER. It’s a whole number—it’s complete—not mixed with decimals, fractions, or other stuff. Do you see why the word “integrity” inspires me as it relates to our Christian lives and Biblical worldview?

Let me try to revise the verse in my own words according to this angle. “The person with a true HEART AFTER GOD—who seeks Him and learns to love Him with ALL his heart—dedicated to integrating his Biblical belief into every part of his life (school, work, play, public behavior, private behavior, etc.)—that person is blessed and equipped with a special divine GPS for navigating life and is kept safe from a bunch of foolish and stupid stuff mixed in to distract and damage. Besides, no one who thinks he can successfully mix into his life the world’s contaminations and still get in on all God’s blessings is just fooling himself. It doesn’t work that way. God’s rules and surveillance systems are absolutely flawless.”

My greatest desire for you, Samara, is that you, as a Christian teenager within a confused and crooked world, learn to walk securely, to do life right, so as to win God’s favor and blessing—without a lot of regret. This is exactly why I see so much value in giving special attention to this special book of the Bible—Proverbs. The world wants to say, LIVE AND LEARN, but God wants to say, LEARN AND LIVE.

“The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous,But it is the ruin of those who do evil.”
~ Proverbs 10:29 ~