Title: Three Wishes (Proverbs 30:7-9)
Content The principle of human life is that it cannot be disconnected from yesterday and cannot avoid being connected with tomorrow. When today passes, tomorrow comes, and when this year ends, a new year comes, and things that are old will pass. Just because you want to live doesn't mean you can't live forever, and just because you want to die doesn't mean you can't die. Among the poets who passed from Sukjongjo to Yeongjo in the Joseon Dynasty, there was Kim Cheon-taek, the male left. In his poem, "Goodbye, don't close/ I can't go, don't rest/ Please don't stop/ Save your village noise/ If you stop while you go/ No, you can't stop." After all, we must go on until we can go through the life we are given with sincerity and perseverance.
Then, how should we live? The text is the prayer of Agur, the son of Age. From this prayer, you can learn an honest and free attitude to life.
No matter what kind of person Agur was, it is very moving that he prayed to God with a simple hope.
"Two things I have asked of you before I die; give it to me before I die. Take away from me falsehood and lies, and give me neither poverty nor riches, but feed me with the bread I need. Perhaps I am full and do not know God. “Who am I?” I fear, lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.”
My first wish is to keep false lies away from me. Help me to live a life of truth and honesty, regardless of whether I live well or not, no matter what situation I am in.
And the second wish, let neither the poor nor the rich, but let them be satisfied with their daily bread. I am afraid that I will slander you, so please let me live moderately frugally. What a sincere wish and a simple wish that touches our hearts
Then, what kind of wish can we, who are living today, make known to God? Based on the words of this text, I present three wishes to you.
One . Help me to be satisfied and grateful for the life given to me.
We don't know what will happen tomorrow. I can't fathom what awaits. However, you should be grateful for the life you have been given today and live your life to the fullest.
This is the story of Tolstoy's work "What shall man live by".
An angel who was cast out because of a mistake by God came to the earth and worked as a weaver in a shoe shop. One day, the country's prime minister's party came to the shoe shop and stopped, and the prime minister ordered good leather to make shoes, but to make the best shoes in the world. It comes with a warning that if it goes wrong, the neck will escape. At this time, the angel who became a human had a meaningful smile on the back of the Prime Minister as he was talking to the owner. After the prime minister left, the shoe shop owner gave the human angel a shoe job and went out. The angel who became a human cut off the skin and made slippers. The shoe shop owner came back from outside and saw the slippers and was furious. But the humanized angel answered, "Master, there is nothing to be concerned about. Everything will be well."
Just then, a servant of the prime minister's house rushes to him and asks him to make slippers instead of making the prime minister's shoes. And what he was saying was that the prime minister had just passed away, so these are slippers to wear on the body. People did not know this, but the angel knew this. No one knows the next moment. I can't even look forward. Still, I try to show off by shrugging my shoulders and giving my neck strength.
Proverbs 27:1 says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what will happen in a day." Therefore, brothers and sisters, let's not be greedy and be faithful to the given today and reality. Then God will give you what you need. The Lord is saying that when you are faithful in the little things, you entrust the big things.
Matthew 25:21 "Well done, good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over little things, and I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." However, there are cases where you can lose your life because of excessive greed. One of Tolstoy's short stories is this. "This has happened in a certain country. If you start from one starting point, step on the ground, and return to the starting point before sunset, you can have all the land you stepped on. A foolish greedy greedy jumped without counting to get a lot This is the story of how he went and ran with all his strength as the setting sun approached, and ran back to the starting point, but he was so exhausted that he vomited blood and died." Dear saints, Jesus taught us what benefit it is if we gain the whole world and lose our souls. (Matthew 16:26) Let's live a blessed life by avoiding excessive greed and being faithful to our daily life.
Second, let me live by faith centered on you.
Two spiritual elements are essential for a person to live. For example, just as we have obligations as much as we enjoy freedom, as saints have work to do as much as they have been saved. No matter how long a person lives and how wealthy he may be, if a person's life is outside of the way of a person, he cannot be said to have lived well. For believers, one of the spiritual elements is the bond of faith connected with the Lord, and the other is the fence of the Word.
We must give importance to the bond of faith that holds on to the Lord and the fence of the Word that protects our spirit and life. If the bond of faith is broken, it falls into death, and if you go beyond the fence of the Word, you will be caught by Satan, the king of darkness. You will never have the protection of the Lord. Colossians 3:1-2 says, "Seek the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not the things of the earth." A young man was passing by the lake shore of the village and saw a yellow gold nugget at the bottom of the lake. With a pounding heart, he jumped into the lake and stirred to find a nugget of gold, but he could not find it. The water turned all over with muddy water. After the mud had subsided, I could still see gold nuggets. At this time, the father went out to find the son because the son did not return, and saw the scene. When the son told his father, the father said, "Son, don't look down on the lake, look up. The gold nugget is not under the lake, it's on the high tree.
One must look up. Each person struggles to find something precious, but what is truly precious is in God. The precious things on earth are but a shadow of the heavenly things. People are unaware of this fact, so they are wandering around looking down on the ground instead of looking up. Believers must look up and look to God. We must live centered on Jesus and live a life of true blessing only when we live within the fence of the Word.
3. Third, let us live joyfully in hope.
The things of this world cannot be the object of true hope. 1 John 2:15-17 "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, for all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Not from the Father, but into the world. The world and its lusts pass away, but he who does the will of God abides forever." Everything in the world is just an illusion. That's why the Bible tells us not to love the things of the world. God said that when He gave His Son Jesus Christ to the cross for us, He also gave all good things for us with Him. Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
If you are in the Lord, love the Lord, and live according to the Lord's will, the Lord will provide for you to make tomorrow more hopeful than today.
The psalmist said, "More and more will I praise the Lord of my hope."
Because Jonah disobeyed the will of the Lord, he was thrown into the deep sea and was tormented in the belly of a great fish for three days. However, if Jonah had not had faith in the Lord of hope, he would not have repented, the Lord would not have had repentance for him, and the Lord would not have entrusted him with a new mission. Like Jonah, we must be people of faith and hope that truly look to the Lord in any situation.
conclusion:
1. Please help me to be satisfied with the life I have been given and to live with gratitude.
2. Help me to live by faith centered on the Lord.
3. Help me to live joyfully in hope.