Daily Challenges Archive
“rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.”
Now there is an upbeat verse. I’ve written about this section a few times. It deals mostly with God’s obvious witness through the creativity, beauty and power in His creation. I am overwhelmed by the presence of His eternal nature in everything we...
“Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house.”
According to the “The World Counts” a child dies from hunger every 10 seconds. Poor nutrition and hunger is responsible for the death of 3.1 million children a year. That’s nearly half of all deaths in children under the age of 5. The children die...
“Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways.”
The word violent in this verse is literally “man of mischief”. This is not the mischief my five-year-old grandson gets into. This is a dark evil. The caution is against worshipping or wishing to be like those whose works are evil and are successfu...
“they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.”
The Cambridge Bible simplifies this verse to the biblical truth, “as they sow, so shall they reap”. In Galatians Paul shares this with the reminder that God will not be mocked. The idea that we get away with sin is a dangerous lie. Recently I’ve h...
“Do not say, “I’ll do to them as they have done to me; I’ll pay them back for what they did.”
This is literally the opposite of what Jesus tells us is the summary of the law and prophets. The big difference is that Jesus instructs us to do “as you would have them do” not pay them back for what they did do. Revenge may be one of the most un...
“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.”
My 10 year old granddaughter is a diligent worker. I occasionally ‘hire’ her to help with projects around my house. She was going shopping with her mom the other day so she wanted to know if I had some projects she could do to earn money. I did. F...
“The wicked put up a bold front, but the upright give thought to their way.”
Self reflection is a bit of a missing art these days. Social media, a zillion channels of streaming entertainment and all the other things designed to get the average person focused on a product, service or other distraction keeps many people from...
“The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.”
Can I swap my gray headed splendor for some young man strength? Just a thought. Solomon knows that young people tend to feel healthy and invincible. His reference in this verse is the result of self discipline and exercise. Today one in five, 2 to...
“Penalties are prepared for mockers, and beatings for the backs of fools.”
As ‘Let God Be True’ puts it, “Fools are stubborn; scorners (mockers) are malicious.” I certainly don’t want to be either of those. The consequences will impact a person’s life but more seriously it will also impact their eternity. This guaranteed...
“If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth!”
Solomon sees a person anticipating that they are about to open their mouth to offer praise for themselves. Before the bragging begins he is advising them to cover their mouth and resist the urge. If you plan to say something negative it is also a ...
“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw:”
It’s easy to walk by what the Lord is doing around us and miss out on what He has for us to learn. The specific lesson learned in this verse was about how foolish and what a waste awaited lazy and slothful behavior. Solomon, as wise as he was, sti...
“A violent person entices their neighbor and leads them down a path that is not good.”
The last phrase in this verse literally means ‘that is very sinful’. Solomon left no doubt what this person was up to and where they wanted to drag others. I live in a neighborhood with a loose HOA. Thankfully most of us tend to look out for each ...
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