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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2 Mar 11
Good morning, dear people.
I’ve done my jog in the rain with Kaden and Max. Good time. Kaden sure enjoys that.
I need to get on with my list. I guess it’s normal to be behind schedule.
Blessings on your day.
Love, Dad/Ray
2 March 2011
Proverbs 2
Focus: “Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.” Proverbs 2:20.
It only stands to reason that some of David would rub off on Solomon. It’s interesting to note that both men were prolific writers, which is really quite mind-boggling for me. They did all that literary work without paper as we know it, ball-point pens, spiral notebooks, photocopiers, and computers with word-processing software. And many of the concepts and expressions they use are very similar. For example, I see such a similarity between these words of Solomon in verses 20 through 22 and David’s composition in Psalm 1. Let’s take a moment to compare.
Proverbs 2:20-22. “Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.”
Now review of a few verses from Psalm 1—verse 1: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” Verses 4-5: “Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.”
The word “walk” is used frequently throughout scripture to represent lifestyle. Try doing a WALK through a concordance listing of all the “walk” verses of the Bible. It will help to help to reinforce your need to “Walk in the Spirit (embracing Biblical spiritual values), and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (the lifestyle standard of the unregenerate wicked)” (Galatians 5:16, KJV).
I would link the word “land” with the phrase “assembly of the righteous.” It indicates the “Promised Land”—the realm of God’s fulfilled promises and blessings. It’s sobering to remember that we are either there, or NOT there. I can’t seem to avoid the conclusion that the vast difference is largely dependent upon personal choices. Generally speaking, you walk where you want to walk.
“Making decisions is simple: Get the facts; seek God’s guidance; form a judgment; act on it; worry no more.” - Charles E. Bennett