Proverbs 25:11 ¶ A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
in pictures of silver. 12 As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold,
so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
The right word spoken at the right time is like
a beautiful picture of great value. Like jewelry and ornaments of great value,
so is the picture of a person giving wise reproof and instruction (synonyms as
per Proverbs 13:18) and correction (synonyms as per 2 Timothy 3:16) to a person
who will hear it and obey. This picture requires the speaker of the word and
the hearer. Such is the way of the Bible when you have a person who is
teachable, who has been molded into the person who can be changed, when God’s
word is applied to him or her.
Are you teachable? Can you handle correction?
I’m not talking about being chewed out by a person who is as hardheaded and self-righteous
as you are but about being changed by God speaking to you through His word?
Some people are too stubborn, too arrogant, and too full of the worship of
Self, the great “I”, who like the “great Oz” in the movie and book, stands
behind a curtain pretending to be something he is not.
A fool will not hear reproof as we have seen
several times in Proverbs. For example;
Proverbs 15:5 A fool despiseth his father’s
instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.
Proverbs 15:10 Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he
that hateth reproof shall die.
If you are not teachable then perhaps God will
make you so. Perhaps you need a chronic illness. An injury. A great
disappointment or failure or repeated ones. Perhaps you need to have God take
one of your children home with Him in some tragic circumstance in order to get
you to look up and realize that there is a God and you aren’t Him.
How long will it take for you to understand that
this short life is not what it’s all about. This is the proving ground for what
it’s all about. This is where those who will know the God who created them are
separated from those who will not. This is where those who know the God who
created them but will not hear Him are separated from those who will. We have a
timeless eternity ahead of us.
Isaiah 50:4 ¶ The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the
learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:
he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. 5
The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned
away back.
A person who will hear and obey instruction and
the person giving the instruction is a beautiful picture, a precious thing. The
Holy Spirit instructing the Christian, piercing through the layers of Self
worship and hardheartedness is an amazing thing. But, it is the two that makes
the picture complete. God wants a relationship with you through Jesus Christ by
the means of the Holy Spirit, all three being God in one. The Book is the
vehicle, the vessel by which He accomplishes the instruction, the correction,
and the reproof He wants you to have. Take up and read.
2Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
Proverbs 25:13 ¶ As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,
so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of
his masters.
Commentators have pointed out that snow was used
for cooling drinks and foods, as far as we know from written sources, as early
as 1500BC. When the hard work of the harvest comes where there is no rest until
the labor is done, and any factory worker will understand that in the busy
season for their company there are sometimes many weeks of 12 hour per day
seven day work weeks, cool refreshment is a blessing.
So, without going into a huge historical
dissertation about ancient refrigeration methods, of which I have learned some
very interesting facts but not very germane to our discussion, let me just say
that this verse shows that a faithful messenger is a blessing to the one who
sent him as a cold drink in a time of back breaking work is refreshing.
Christians are to be ambassadors for the kingdom
of God. We are messengers from the heavenly kingdom which is to come. Our
message is the gospel.
1 Corinthians 15:1 ¶ Moreover, brethren, I
declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have
received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and
that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
That is our message to the world. Without it the
world and all of its people are lost and doomed to an eternity of agony, pain,
grief, and loss, as we were, very simply.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that
believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For
every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Our message is not political in that we are not
trumpeting the glory of any earthly kingdom or nation including the one we live
in. We are practicing malfeasance in office when we seek revenge, even verbal,
when we are self-promoting, seek our own welfare over others, do not give of
ourselves, our time, and our money sacrificially, love violence as either our
own satisfaction or our entertainment, are not honest to a fault in our
dealings with the world, speak vain words, become easily offended or angry at
the behavior and speech of lost people, are obsessed with things sexual and
with appearance, and at all times don’t put our message from God ahead of
ourselves, specifically OUR SELF.
Ask yourself, what kind of messenger are you? Are you
representing Christ, as part of His body on earth, properly? Anger, paranoia,
fear, excessive patriotic fervor for an earthly kingdom, self-righteousness,
bigotry, cruelty, meanspiritedness, selfishness, arrogance, and hatred are not
attributes a heavenly messenger should manifest.
What attributes are your credentials which you
present to the world every time you leave your front door either physically or
figuratively on the computer or telephone? What is the proof of your position
as Christ’s messenger, the fruit that proves what kind of tree you really are?
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory,
provoking one another, envying one another.
Are you a faithful messenger that refreshes the
soul of your master? Or are you an angry, self-righteous religious freak who
serves only your own fears and emotional baggage and your desire to see your
SELF be honored? Remember, angry people, full of wrath and hatred, cannot serve
Christ. Quit fooling yourself. You don’t fool God or the unsaved.
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