On the Mend!

This blog is to update you all on our progress from Heart attack--me three weeks ago, and a new hip--Ann, two weeks ago.

Ann has seen her GP and surgeon this week and is progressing well. She is in the process of moving from a walker to a cane, but it'll be about another two or three weeks before she is close to normal. Dressings are off and the wound is healing well. She is now mobile enough to attend this weekend's conference in Edmonton we had booked a couple of months ago.

Having had a stent placed in a 90% blocked heart artery, I'm back to feeling fairly normal, but
finding it's necessary to take things slowly. Going with Ann to the Edmonton conference this weekend, and looking forward to some motivating stuff. Will need to commence an walking program, thanks to a change in the weather!

So many of you have prayed for us and sent us your blessing, which we greatly appreciate. We still have some life in us yet, and will continue to promote our faith in Jesus Christ as long as He gives us life.

The Worth of Worry

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Luke 12:25-26.

The original for this verse reads, “add a single cubit to his height?” a euphemism for adding length to life. It seems to be the perverseness of life that although we can’t add to our life, which we would like to, we can add to our girth, which most of us would like to avoid!

The context of this verse is that God will provide for the necessities of life—food and clothing—but standing alone, the verse reminds us that we can’t put off the date of our death. However, while most of us rather not think about it, worry will not change it.

For many, death is a fearsome prospect, mainly because they have no idea what to expect on the other side. Some try to avoid this by hoping there is nothing beyond the grave. That there might be prompts a natural fear of death, fueled by an innate sense of guilt.

At least this text should be a wake up call to prepare for death if we can’t avoid it. A current advertisement suggests that we spend more time selecting vegetables than choosing life insurance. Similarly, we spend more time preparing for life which is transient than we do for death which is certain and eternal.

So if it doesn’t make sense to worry about death, it is just as foolish not to prepare for it. For the life of me, I cannot understand why, when God has given us the perfect reprieve in His son’s sacrifice, so many will not take advantage of it. If we reject that, we can expect no other concession from Him.

Are Our Words Fitting or Perverse?

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. Proverbs 10:32.

The last five verses of Proverbs 10 teach values accruing from righteousness. The word “righteousness” is not in everyday use, so we need to know what it means. The common idea that it means goodness, or just “being good,” falls well short of the mark; it provides no standard to measure goodness.

A previous verse, 27, helps clarify the meaning: “The fear of the LORD adds length to life.” “Fear” in this sense is not terror, as some might interpret it, but respect for God. Thus, the righteousness that produces joy, safety, stability, and wisdom denoted in verses 28–31, is abiding in God’s counsel.

Unfortunately, our human thoughts and words are distorted by our sinful nature, which undermines the wisdom we devise. Thus, our words may be either fitting or perverse. Only as our thoughts are “transformed by the renewing of [our] mind,” will we “be able to test and approve what God's will is . . .” Romans 12:2.

But the renewing of our mind is not simply an educational process. The more we consider we have mastered the Word, the more likely we are to pervert it with our own ideas. For our words to be fitting, we prayerfully need to gain God’s ideas embedded in His Word, not just a mechanical exposition of the text.