Proverbs Bible study

 Proverbs 4:3-4

But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly;

The Lord will hear when I call to Him.

4 

Be angry, and do not sin.

Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

So we read that in verse 3 and we may think to ourselves, "Godly? What does that mean?" The long version of the dictionary definition for that word is:

"Pious; reverencing God, and His character and laws; obedient to the commands of God from love for, and reverence of, His character; conformed to God's law; devout; righteous."

I do like that definition. To be godly means to serve the Lord because you love Him, not because you're being forced to. We live our lives according to God's word because we want to please Him in all that we say and in all that we do. I can't speak for you but I want to be a faithful child. I don't want to bring shame to the name of the Lord. Let's look at:

Colossians 3:17 

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

I know that I quote this verse often but it is very relevant to our daily lives. If we will purpose in our hearts to do this on a daily basis, everything in our lives will change. 

Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

Being angry is not the problem, it's what we do when we're angry that's the problem. The words that come out of our mouths and perhaps physical actions we may take towards others. We're not five years old anymore. We're not supposed to act like that anymore. We're not supposed to react like that anymore. Especially as blood bought children of the Most High God. 

Being shocked at the lack of driving skills of some folks on the road, and being angry about that, is not the problem. It's beating the steering wheel or using words that we hadn't ought to be using anymore that's the problem. 

Case in point: 

A guy pulled out in front of me yesterday, and praise God I don't know how I got the car stopped, but it did. Or actually slowed down enough to a point where I could go around him. Keep in mind the speed limit on this road is 55 and I was doing that for sure. (For you locals I was traveling south on McColl Road just before you get to Sprague. And he was it exiting a driveway on the west side, that was completely blind. I couldn't see the truck at all until it came out onto the road.) Thankfully he stopped in the middle of the lane to where I could get around him without hitting him or anyone else. If I had hit that giant truck broadside there would likely be no Bible study this morning. Or any morning to come. Of course I would be rejoicing in the presence of the Lord right now, which is definitely what I prefer, but I guess the Lord has some more stuff for me to do down here. 

And it was so funny because usually, when you're involved in a situation like that, you have that apprehension you feel in your heart all the way down to the pit of your stomach. Like totally freaked out. I didn't have that. I wasn't shaking, I didn't need to catch my breath, none of that. I just said, "Thank You Lord." And I went on my way. This was right after church yesterday. 1:30 in the afternoon. 

I share that with you because sometimes things just happen that we have no control over. It wasn't really that guy's fault, as he couldn't see. Or perhaps he didn't look, I don't know. But I certainly didn't see him until his truck was in the road. Being upset or mad or even freaked out about the whole situation is not helpful. I don't know how to describe it, but more and more when I experience things like that I don't have that freak out factor anymore. I believe I'm getting to a point where I just fully trust in the Lord. I know that what happens, even just seconds in the future, is in His hands. Of course it's very possible that something similar could happen today and I'll be totally freaked out. I don't know. I just found it strange that that didn't occur yesterday. And then the more I thought about it, the less strange it seemed. I don't know if anything that I just said makes any sense or not, but there it is. 

I really like that whole meditate in your bed thing. When you're laying down at the end of the day, mentally run through the events of the day so that maybe tomorrow you can make better choices. But whatever happened that day, at the end of the day, that night before you go to sleep, give it all to the Lord. That's it. That's the whole point. Whether you got angry and sinned, or you got angry and didn't sin, whatever the case was, at the end of the day, just give it to the Lord. Don't hold onto it, don't worry about it, don't feel guilty about it. Release it all to the Lord and sleep. And hopefully, with the help of the Lord, do better the next day. I pray you're all doing well this lovely Monday morning. Have a great rest of your day and God bless you and yours. James