Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Understanding the Frizz

I write a lot about our life here on Curly By Nature - normal, boring, everyday things that probably only my family (and probably really only my mom) is interested in.  Sometimes I offer advice, though I'm trying to do that less and less.  Sometimes, on these Taming of the Frizz posts I try to share a word that God has given me.

Last week, I wrote about praying more and talking less.  This means offering a lot less advice.

So don't look at this as advice, look at this as what God is impressing on my heart this week.

I've been reading through Proverbs this month, which is more difficult than I thought it would be.  But it gave me this verse: "Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." (Proverbs 23:12)

There are a lot of places to find wisdom, there are a lot of books that offer new ways to cook, organize, clean, raise your kids, drive your car, polish your art collection, collect bugs, etc.
Sometimes I read these books, and sometimes I put them on my reading list to perish in a "someday, sometime" way.
I think it is important to try to improve yourself and how you live your life.
But after reading Proverbs 23, and considering verse 12 in particular, I sat down to read through my email.  A daily devotional email I receive, had this verse:

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
1 Corinthians 3:10-11

And from my prayer time, I take away this: Read, and learn, but run everything through Jesus Christ.  Not all help books will affect your spiritual life (a kitchen arrangement isn't that big of a deal), but some will, and those should all be read through keeping in mind that our real foundation in life is Jesus, and that He can and will guide us through life, teaching us how to put Him first, raise our kids, provide our family's needs, love others as ourselves, and care for the widows and orphans.

Though the Bible might not have many tips on polishing art.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

I think you are absolutely right---everything we hear outside of the Bible (sermons, movies, books, articles, Christian speakers, etc)---MUST be tested against what the Bible says. All of these resources are not "bad"--in fact, I think that God can use all of these resources (whether they are labeled "Christian" or not) as a means to challenge us and draw us closer to Him. But, we must ALWAYS take these back to God's word and make sure these messages line up. In order to test things against the Bible (and pick out the bones of these outside resources) we MUST know what the Bible says. The danger we fall into is when we read things or listen to sermons and expect those items to "fill us up". You are spot on, we must always start with and end with the Bible, using these "outside" influences to further propel us to understand God's word. Keep it up....