Shade Tree Wisdom 10/2/08

This morning the paper poses an interesting question, “How do those ‘keep off the grass’ signs get on the grass one is supposed to keep off?”

Now isn’t that something to be puzzled about when there are so many other strange things going on? Here is a column supposed to be a sort of eulogy for Paul Neumann, taking time to dig at the President’s policy? And the news people are all in a tizzy about a debate between Biden and Palin which they say will draw 50 million viewers world wide. And the government placing blame when they vote for a bail out.

I think of a quote from Eric Hoffer, that longshoreman turned philosopher, who said, “An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.”

Time to turn to the wisdom of Agur. He is the son of Jakeh. You will find his words in Proverbs 30. His words read: “Every word of God is pure, and He is a shield unto them that trust in him.” Then he adds this, “add thou not to his words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar”. V.5.6.

Politicians speak today of using ‘spin’. With that they mean the words they use to cover a bad situation. To try to make the best of something bad and turn it into a good for their side. You know, practice the ‘blame game’, as old as the First Fall into sin.

That’s what Agur warns against, as did Moses in Deuteronomy 4,2, “Don’t add anything to what I order you to do, or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God I order you to keep”. And nearly the last words in the Bible speak another strong warning about making any changes at all, ever, in God’s Holy Word. ”Every Word of the Lord is pure, a shield unto them that trust in Him.” V,5.

In all the words that will float around, here is one to stick to. God says of His word, “It is like a fire, like a hammer that shatters rock”. The Word is pitiless in revealing sin, it is strong enough to shatter the hardest rock. That Word shows us sin, it shows us the WAY to salvation. It is true. We can trust it, no ‘spin’ involved at all. Just plain, straight-forward, true, trust it. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and Thou shalt be saved”. That’s His promise, and God backed it up by allowing Jesus Christ, His Son, to die on the cross, for sinners. Thank God for this Truth, hold on to it. God bless.

GPD 10/2/08