June 17 – Proverbs 25-26

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Proverbs 25-26. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Balance … Do you have it in your life? Look at a few of today’s proverbs again … “Do you like honey? Do not eat too much, or it will make you sick! Don’t visit your neighbors too often, or you will wear out your welcome.” (Proverbs 25:16-17 NLT) Honey is amazing. Spending time with friends and neighbors can be a wonderful blessing to life. God gave us honey to sweeten our food to provide pleasure. God gave friends and neighbors to do life with. God did not create us to not enjoy life. Pleasure is certainly a part of his creation.

However all of that must be measured with balance. Too much of a good thing might just turn to a bad thing. Ever spent a day eating too many sweets? The feeling at the end of the day is not a pleasant one. Ever have that pesky neighbor who always wants to talk? Ever spent a ton of time with friends and family around the Christmas holiday season and realize at the end of it you need some time alone? Balance is crucial to enjoying the pleasures of this life.

Balance is not just for the pleasures. Balance is for so many other areas of life as well. Find balance and you may just find the true pleasure God created for your life.

At West Side we believe highly in prayer. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.

June 5 – Proverbs 7 - 9

Below are my thoughts from the daily Bible reading of the West Side Church of Christ. Today’s reading comes from Proverbs 7 - 9. Before reading I invite you to pray and asked God to speak to you as you read his word. Also above in the tabs is a link to the Bible reading plan.

In our reading today we began with more warnings about the immoral woman … the woman we are to guard against leading us men into sexual sin. This is very noble advice and wise council from God. But I want to take it to another level and discuss sin in general.

Like the immoral woman described in this chapter sin is seductive. If sin was not seductive we would not struggle with it. We struggle with sin because it is pleasurable and it gives us some sort of satisfaction in the moment. The same would be true for the brief sexual interlude that the chapter talks about. If the woman was not seductive and offering him a good time, he would not have stumbled into her bed. Friends, sin is the same way. There is pleasure in sin. That is why we do it.

We must be on guard because the pleasure of sin is often fleeting. There is pain and turmoil in giving your heart sexually to anther for what amounts to a one night stand. Whether that is the emptiness that follows or simply a sexually transmitted disease, the consequences can be devastating. Sin feels good in the moment, but the after can literally suck. So learn to not gratify the sinful desires that will only provide momentary pleasure. Find comfort and strength in the arms of God that last a lifetime. I will take the later, it sounds so much more fulfilling.

At West Side we believe highly in prayer. We are asking people to join with us in praying daily for West Side. If you would like to join us please click here and subscribe to receive daily emails containing a short prayer request for West Side. We appreciate your partnership.