Shade Tree Wisdom 6/28/12

          I offer contrasts for your thoughtful time.

          Here is a headline from the daily Chronicle I believe it was Tuesday of last week. The headline says, ”Summer is the season of cheating”. The article details an internet site for people who are looking for “Married dating”. And claims 93,000 residents of the Houston area are members of that site.

          In brief, the site invites people looking for a ‘summer fling’ to look there for possible partners. Engaging in such affairs so often leads to headache, heartache, misery, shattered lives, and disrupting of relationships. Sad and disastrous.

          The second offering is this from Proverbs, chapter 5, 20-22:
                   Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
                   Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
                     For a man’s way are in full view of the Lord,
                    And He examines every man’s path.
                   The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him,
                   The cords of his sin hold him fast.”

          The third offering for your thoughtful time is from Luther’s Small Catechism and quotes the 6th Commandment. “Thou shalt not commit adultery”. You will recognize that is one of God’s commandments.

          Now, why is the commandment there at all? It’s there to protect us from ourselves, because “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Since we are all sinners, we are bent toward the evil, to doing what we want, what our nature longs for. So God, in His great mercy, set a fence for us to help us since we are “The temple of the Holy Ghost, and ye are not your own.” The commandment stands there as a curb, as a mirror, and as a rule. Follow its direction leads to a fuller, richer, happier life.

          Is one of the reasons there is so much unrest and unhappiness in our world today caused just by this, not being obedient to our God in our living.

          Give that thought some thought and prayer.

GPD 6/28/12
P.S. This comes later than I planned because my Modem malfunctioned.