Proverbs 1: 33 MSG "First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy--you're in good hands
* Isaiah 32:17 (NIV) The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.
* Luke 8:15 (NIV) But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
* Phil 4:6-7 (NLT) Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Do a Goggle search on "relax" and your eyes will be opened to all the possibilities for learning how to relax. There's music. Quieting videos. Unique DVDs. Special cassettes. Spectacular CDs. You name it. Someone will sell you something to help you relax. Amazing the number of Internet sites devoted to just the concept of relaxing.Chapter one of Proverbs says there is a simple method that will provide what you need to learn to relax.
1. Why is it to “buy stuff” to relax instead of following the advice of Proverbs 1:33?
Practice righteousness. This is something that you plant, nurture, grow and it produces fruit. And how is this done? Wisdom says (that is who is speaking in verse 33) listen to her. And this hearing demands of us the discipline to read and meditate on the words of Wisdom. Practicing righteousness is not a mystery - it is a discipline of being absorbed with God - hearing the Word, retaining it and preserving. The result. Living a relaxed life.
2. What gets in the way of the discipline of mediating on Wisdom? What needs to change? How does one go about making this kind of change? How does the Luke passage shape your thoughts?
"First pay attention to me..."
3. Just how do we listen to God?
The key as I see it is to (as Paul says) "live in Christ Jesus."
4. How does the Philippian passage help? What other verses in Paul’s writing come to mind? Why is Paul a good model for “relaxing?”
Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
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