September 16, 2018

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for September 16th: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38; Theme: Watch what you say to others. James: This is one of the more controversial chapters of James and of his teaching of faith without works is dead. The lesson for this week is that we have to watch what we say, once it comes out of our mouth, we can’t take it back again. Every word that comes out of our mouth has a consequence. James says that we have to be very careful about what we say when we are teachers because we are responsible when our words are taken in the wrong way. If we say that we are a Christian, then we have to make sure that our words reflect God and not our own issues. If we are on God’s side, then our life cannot reflect negativity, and neither can our words. Tame the tongue, be responsible for our words, and never be afraid to teach others the ways of God. Proverbs: I love this lesson in Proverbs. I personifies good advice as a woman crying in the streets. Sofia is wisdom. If you read the story of creation, you will see that Sofia (lady wisdom) was with God as God created the world. In the first chapter of Proverbs, she is in the middle of the street talking with people, telling them to do different and to think and listen to the ways of God. She is frustrated because the young people do not listen. I would imagine that lady wisdom is still in the middle of the street, and the young people who don’t come to church still don’t want to listen. We can be grateful that no matter how much we ignore lady wisdom, she has not been silenced, and she is still willing to speak to us. We just have to put aside our busy lives and learn to listen. We need to listen to the elders who have experience. We need to listen to the spirit of God speaking through scripture. We need to listen to our own hearts. We need to listen to the spirit of God in the world today. Questions: What do you do to control your words? What is lady wisdom saying to this generation?