Proverbs 3 & 4

***Proverbs 3*** "Do not be jealous of violent people" Our society loves violence. Violence within the law, but violence nonetheless. We watch football to see a middle linebacker level a wide receiver coming over the middle. We watch NASCAR to see crashes at 175 miles per hour. We watch men in a ring or an octagon beat each other up until one man either gives up or is unable to get up. We watch movies with $200 million dollar budgets with everything under the sun blowing up, and we think for a second that maybe James Bond does have a cooler life than I do. And we give these people, those who are most violent, honor and wealth. We buy their jerseys, we have pictures of them in our gamerooms. We are violent people. I know some of you might be thinking that men are violent and women are delicate roses... It just so happens that I grew up with 2 olders sisters that shared clothes, so don't try that nonesense here! It's nothing new. Human society has always honored the violent. Knights and warriors have been honored in every tribe on earth. The message of God is different though. Our God is not a God of violence but of suffering. Our God opposes the bully and stands for the oppressed. So much so that our God sent his Son, to be the victim of humanity's violent ways, so that we would know how much each of us are loved. I wonder why they don't make jerseys for Jesus? ***Proverbs 4*** Solomon is pretty clear what he wants for his children... above all else he wants them to be wise. He writes it over and over, and in doing so he constantly urges them learn more. To seek a higher level of understanding. It's interesting. One would expect a father to pass on words of wisdom, something that he has learned. I think many fathers today teach their children what they know, they pass on a skill or trade. Solomon is not interested in that, what he is trying to pass on is an unquenchable desire for more learning. He's not teaching them a thing, he's teaching them to learn as many things as possible. We would serve our children well if while teaching them math and grammar, we taught them why learning is so important, and even though school work eventually ends, learning never ends. I was talking with a teacher last week and she was sharing some frustrations she has. Because of the economy school districts are having to let teachers go, and classroom sizes are getting bigger and bigger. Teachers are overwhelmed and the children are suffering because of it. It's a hard time to be a student and it's a hard time to be a teacher. But we can afford to build $50 million high school football stadiums. Violence wins again! (I know, I know... it's a different budget)