Reading
SAA Notes
These proverbs cover a wide range of life from personal wisdom, to behaviour before those senior to you in your employment, to mission statements, to dealing with fools.
SJA Notes
* Dear God, thank You for Your word, all of it fitly spoken and good for us every day.
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Do we have a false perception of ourselves, that we are better than we are?”
What is the answer for people who think they are saved because they are good people?
In this reading we have,
“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, ‘Come up here’, than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.”
In Matthew 22, Jesus tells us that this person will be cast into the outer darkness,
“In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This is a clear warning for us!
Yet how easy it is for us to slip a foot sideways on the narrow path – a little glimmer of pride in self, a sprinkle of self-worth in our thoughts, building our identity from earthly things.
This is why we need God’s word, why we must continue to come back to the only mirror that always tells us the truth.
That we need Jesus to save us, to sanctify us, to call us home.
Better by far to hear our King says “Come up here,” than “Leave this place.”
* Sovereign God,
Please mark us as a humble people, recognising in thought, word and deed our desperate need for You, for Your love, Your grace and mercy.
Let us see Jesus clear today – Your word become flesh – Our King and Lord and Saviour.
Amen.