Who? Where?

Wednesday night’s Bible study was Proverbs 17. There’s a whole story in the first verse:

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife. (Proverbs 17:1 KJV)

The long version, to me, is that it’s better to just get by, filled with quiet comfort than live in a luxurious house that makes a huge display of religiosity, but is filled with strife.  I noted that it’s ‘house’, not ‘home’, which makes a huge difference to me.

Then Pastor’s question came to mind – who do we want to be?

“Who?” What does that have to do with this verse? Then I thought of those who were looking for their dream house, solutions to finances, a change in their spouse, obedience in their children.

But if I had to choose another’s life, a different life, who would I want to be? Myself with a bit more money?  Would having unlimited funds help?  Nope.  Money cannot cure my Beloved Husband. What else could I want?

Would I choose relocation, a new life in a far away place?  Nope.  Don’t want to change my set of problems for an unknown set that belongs to someone else?

With those questions in mind, I read further in the chapter:

Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. (Proverbs 17:24 KJV)

My life is right here, right now, absolutely in front of me, just as it was 50 years ago. I have the wisdom to understand that now.  There were times, though, when I was foolish, looking ahead, to the horizon, the future, to the  ends of the earth, for ‘something’ different -- better than what I had while all the time I needed to look for what God wanted for me, and from me.

Many verses tell us what God wants from us.  Most of the time it’s very simple and hasn’t changed since He walked in the evening with Adam, wrote with His finger before Moses or answered a lawyer:

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Matthew 22:37 KJV)

Problems arise when our response is, “I can’t because I need/love [insert whatever is keeping us from loving the Lord, our God.]”

Solomon put great store in wisdom, and God blessed him when that was his only request.  Wisdom is available to us, too, and it’s not on a distant horizon. It will provide us much more than dry morsels, too.