09-03-2007, 03:54 PM
Good afternoon everyone ...
My what a lovely and beautiful breezy day it is ... great for being outdoors where I should be but aren't ... yet ... ;):whistle: but will be later ...:thumbup:
The text for today is taken from Ps. 119:36 ...
"Incline my heart to your reminders, and not to profit.''
Watchtower comments ...
''The spirit prevailing in the world today promotes materialism and competition. Through advertising, commerce arouses desires for new products and often conveys the idea that we are not going to be happy unless we acquire them. This is exactly the kind of spirit that Jehovah's Law condemned. Related to it is the desire to get ahead in life at any cost and to accumulate wealth. the Apostle Paul warned: ''Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. (I Tim. 6:9) Those who love God's law recognize the dangers of a materialistic spirit and are protected from it. ''Godly devotion,'' not the amassing of possessions, is the key to the greatest gain possible.'' I Tim. 6:6 6/15/06 18,19
My comments ...
Almost all of us humans want to better ourselves in various ways don't we? Whether it be through education, financial, moral, spiritual and so on, and IMHO that is a good thing to strive for.
The DANGER though to this striving to better ourselves develops when we become UNBALANCED and begin to think that we ARE what we POSSESS ... and that in the SEEKING to 'possess' these things we become dishonest, greedy, dealing underhandedly, putting more emphasis on possessions and position than in seeking to possess WHAT REALLY COUNTS!!
A relationship with our heavenly Father and his Son ... seeking wisdom, insight and knowledge that will help us in this ultimate goal!
When I looked up the word used for 'incline' I sat and thought for a few minutes as to some of the meanings ... meanings that IMHO show the limits in which we would want to incline our hearts to go ...
Some of the definition in Strong's says of Hebrew word for 'incline' ...
natah ...
a prim. root; to STRETCH or SPREAD OUT;
Imagine trying to reach out for something that we really want or need ...
something that seems to be slightly out of our reach ... how hard do we try to get or attain it ...
Imagine your muscles straining and pulling for you want it so badly ...
That is the kind of effort we want to hearts to exert in our pursuit of spiritual things is it not ...?
We want our love to be STRONG and so we stretch our feelings to feel it more and more ... we want to widen out in who and how we love so as to begin to feel in the tiniest bit the kind of love our Father and his Son have for us ...
Another things that I found interesting in the verse for today was the meaning of 'profit' ...
When I looked up the reference Scriptures for this it took me to Ex. 18:21 ...
21 But you yourself should select out of all the people capable men, fearing God, trustworthy men, hating unjust profit; and you must set these over them as chiefs over thousands, chiefs over hundreds, chiefs over fifties and chiefs over tens.
Another Scriptural reference was also in 1 Tim. 6:10 ...
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.
I think that these Scriptures show us a type of ATTITUDE that we need to avoid ... and that this applies in many venues ... not just in 'materialism' ...
If in seeking to better ourselves we begin to LOVE them more than anything else ... than we may seek this 'profit' in an UNJUST way ... a way that would involve the works of the flesh instead of the fruitages of the spirit ... thus drawing us AWAY from our heavenly Father and his Son instead of closer ...
I think that what we need to try to develop is an attitude that Paul spoke about in Heb. 13:5 ...
5 Let [YOUR] manner of life be free of the love of money, while YOU are content with the present things. For he has said: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.â€
Yes, while we can always seek to improve our lot in life ... should we not strive to be 'content' or take pleasure in what we have NOW ... be it a 'little' or a 'lot' ... seeking to make the best out of whatever situation we may find ourselves ... trying to remember that Christ is always with us to help us to cope ... and to give us hope ...
Also seeking to remember that whatever we have now ... be it 'little' or a 'lot' ... is still ONLY TEMPORARY ... as is everything in this life ... for the REAL LIFE hasn't yet begun ... and in that life there will be no one who is who will want for anything ... for our God will satisfy the all desires of EVERYONE ... no one will be left out or have more than another so that anyone should feel disadvantaged in some way ...
How cool is that!!:thumbsup:
Not sure if this come out right ... but I tried ... :giverose::siskiss:
Love to all as usual and always ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
And I'm sure we'd all luv to hear any other thoughts ... ;):heartbeat::grouphug:
My what a lovely and beautiful breezy day it is ... great for being outdoors where I should be but aren't ... yet ... ;):whistle: but will be later ...:thumbup:
The text for today is taken from Ps. 119:36 ...
"Incline my heart to your reminders, and not to profit.''
Watchtower comments ...
''The spirit prevailing in the world today promotes materialism and competition. Through advertising, commerce arouses desires for new products and often conveys the idea that we are not going to be happy unless we acquire them. This is exactly the kind of spirit that Jehovah's Law condemned. Related to it is the desire to get ahead in life at any cost and to accumulate wealth. the Apostle Paul warned: ''Those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. (I Tim. 6:9) Those who love God's law recognize the dangers of a materialistic spirit and are protected from it. ''Godly devotion,'' not the amassing of possessions, is the key to the greatest gain possible.'' I Tim. 6:6 6/15/06 18,19
My comments ...
Almost all of us humans want to better ourselves in various ways don't we? Whether it be through education, financial, moral, spiritual and so on, and IMHO that is a good thing to strive for.
The DANGER though to this striving to better ourselves develops when we become UNBALANCED and begin to think that we ARE what we POSSESS ... and that in the SEEKING to 'possess' these things we become dishonest, greedy, dealing underhandedly, putting more emphasis on possessions and position than in seeking to possess WHAT REALLY COUNTS!!
A relationship with our heavenly Father and his Son ... seeking wisdom, insight and knowledge that will help us in this ultimate goal!
When I looked up the word used for 'incline' I sat and thought for a few minutes as to some of the meanings ... meanings that IMHO show the limits in which we would want to incline our hearts to go ...
Some of the definition in Strong's says of Hebrew word for 'incline' ...
natah ...
a prim. root; to STRETCH or SPREAD OUT;
Imagine trying to reach out for something that we really want or need ...
something that seems to be slightly out of our reach ... how hard do we try to get or attain it ...
Imagine your muscles straining and pulling for you want it so badly ...
That is the kind of effort we want to hearts to exert in our pursuit of spiritual things is it not ...?
We want our love to be STRONG and so we stretch our feelings to feel it more and more ... we want to widen out in who and how we love so as to begin to feel in the tiniest bit the kind of love our Father and his Son have for us ...
Another things that I found interesting in the verse for today was the meaning of 'profit' ...
When I looked up the reference Scriptures for this it took me to Ex. 18:21 ...
21 But you yourself should select out of all the people capable men, fearing God, trustworthy men, hating unjust profit; and you must set these over them as chiefs over thousands, chiefs over hundreds, chiefs over fifties and chiefs over tens.
Another Scriptural reference was also in 1 Tim. 6:10 ...
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.
I think that these Scriptures show us a type of ATTITUDE that we need to avoid ... and that this applies in many venues ... not just in 'materialism' ...
If in seeking to better ourselves we begin to LOVE them more than anything else ... than we may seek this 'profit' in an UNJUST way ... a way that would involve the works of the flesh instead of the fruitages of the spirit ... thus drawing us AWAY from our heavenly Father and his Son instead of closer ...
I think that what we need to try to develop is an attitude that Paul spoke about in Heb. 13:5 ...
5 Let [YOUR] manner of life be free of the love of money, while YOU are content with the present things. For he has said: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you.â€
Yes, while we can always seek to improve our lot in life ... should we not strive to be 'content' or take pleasure in what we have NOW ... be it a 'little' or a 'lot' ... seeking to make the best out of whatever situation we may find ourselves ... trying to remember that Christ is always with us to help us to cope ... and to give us hope ...
Also seeking to remember that whatever we have now ... be it 'little' or a 'lot' ... is still ONLY TEMPORARY ... as is everything in this life ... for the REAL LIFE hasn't yet begun ... and in that life there will be no one who is who will want for anything ... for our God will satisfy the all desires of EVERYONE ... no one will be left out or have more than another so that anyone should feel disadvantaged in some way ...
How cool is that!!:thumbsup:
Not sure if this come out right ... but I tried ... :giverose::siskiss:
Love to all as usual and always ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
And I'm sure we'd all luv to hear any other thoughts ... ;):heartbeat::grouphug: