Pastor's Column 7/9/2023

PASTOR’S COLUMN

“For the Lord grants wisdom! From His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to Him.” Proverbs 2:6-8, NLT

"Commencing With God!”

I must confess, I have a weakness for graduations of any kind. The joy of watching a person attain a goal that promises hope for their future touches my inner being. It is on such an occasion for me at least, that tears flow. Any of life’s rituals that promises a productive and successful future is gratifying. It matters not, where the achievement took place. What matters is, any achievement is an opportunity to use that gift, in a manner that pleases God, while enhancing our lives. Life is not merely about trying to get rich, but enrich our lives to such a degree that we can make a real difference in the world. Our world is in desperate need of people with integrity; and someone who is devoted to One, greater than ourselves. In the Old Testament, variant Hebrew words for integrity, mean: “to do something completely.” Or, to be truthful and righteous.” The writer of Proverbs instructs us to use wisdom and knowledge to live upright before God and each other. In a world greatly divided by race, culture, ideals, and biases; we need to use the wisdom and knowledge we attain, to urge and create a just and moral society. The late Dr. Martin King said, “We must learn to live together as bothers [and sisters] or we will perish together as fools.” The urgency of our times is to embrace a new generation; coalescing with them to place the true God-agenda of righteousness, integrity, and justice before a nation and world spiraling out of control. Never before has common sense taken a back seat to baseless conspiracy theories; truth-denying; vitriol; and usurpation of the truth. The public square has become the stage for the vilest offenders of God’s call to justice, mercy, and devotion to Him. In the morass of this confusion, there is hope. The people of goodwill, and a new generation weary of the counterfeit culture, will use God’s common sense to restore the land!