"The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast."
Proverbs 15:14-15
Some interesting food and heart imagery here. In the first verse, fools feed on foolishness, and kind of as the opposite of that, understanding-hearted people seek/feed on knowledge. I like that image, of being sustained by knowledge. :) Obviously it would have to be knowledge from God, since random wrong knowledge would just be fake plastic food, and we would starve.
In the second verse, merry-hearted people get the feast, and the afflicted people get evil days. On the surface this seems stinky and unfair, but I think the point here is that we get to *choose* what our hearts are like. No one can make us afflicted, and no external thing can force us to look at our lives that way. Even in the worst circumstances, we can find some positive. Like 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; / Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
Today, let's choose how our hearts will be. Understanding and merry trumps foolish and evil. And if we forget, and we make some foolish choices, or feel weighed down by our afflictions, let's go to God. We can't always do it alone. But with him, we can always find the lesson and the hope.
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast."
Proverbs 15:14-15
Some interesting food and heart imagery here. In the first verse, fools feed on foolishness, and kind of as the opposite of that, understanding-hearted people seek/feed on knowledge. I like that image, of being sustained by knowledge. :) Obviously it would have to be knowledge from God, since random wrong knowledge would just be fake plastic food, and we would starve.
In the second verse, merry-hearted people get the feast, and the afflicted people get evil days. On the surface this seems stinky and unfair, but I think the point here is that we get to *choose* what our hearts are like. No one can make us afflicted, and no external thing can force us to look at our lives that way. Even in the worst circumstances, we can find some positive. Like 2 Corinthians 4:8-9: "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; / Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
Today, let's choose how our hearts will be. Understanding and merry trumps foolish and evil. And if we forget, and we make some foolish choices, or feel weighed down by our afflictions, let's go to God. We can't always do it alone. But with him, we can always find the lesson and the hope.
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