Saturday, August 13: Proverbs 22- Playing the hand you were dealt.

Two very different Proverbs piqued my interest. Oh, where will my meditations lead??

Verse 2: Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all. Money, wealth, nation of birth, etc. these greatly impact the life trail we walk. If I was born in inner city Chicago or Nigeria or Appalachia, my life would have been significantly different. But like the Proverb states, all of these hypothetical lives and my real life have one thing in common, the Lord is the Maker of all life and everyone will stand before Him when our days come to an end. Being made by God and standing before God is the universal equalizer for all people. This thought sobers my perspective, particularly the latter element of the equation. I will stand before God and answer for how I have lived and what I have done with my life! And so I ruminated on this for a while

After a while, I switched over to verses 26-27: Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. My first thought was how apt this word is, given the mortgage crisis in our country. How many people –duped as they my have been- felt the sharp blade of this Proverb?   if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Before I knew it I was pondering personal responsibility, a theme that popped out of both Proverbs. I am personally responsible for the obligations I make. When I shake hands in an agreement or sign a mortgage note, I am responsible for the terms, whether I took time to understand them or not. When my life comes to a conclusion, I alone will stand before the Lord and answer for the way I lived. I may not have any control over the ‘hand I was dealt’ in life, however, what I can control is how I ‘play’ it…

Think about it. I am.

Lord, walk into the deep places of my life with me today… probe and search, root out all vestiges of evil, search me and know my heart, that I might not sin against You. Amen.