The Plumbline

4 "Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—    full of himself but soul-empty. But the person in right standing before God    through loyal and steady believing    is fully alive, really alive." (Habakkuk 2:4) Habakkuk was a prophet of the Old Testament.  The first two chapters are really a discussion between God and Habakkuk - the prophet pouring out his heart and then hearing from God as to what was transpiring around him.  The very basis of this book of the Bible is to present the concept that it is impossible to live without faith - the concept you might of heard of that the just shall live by faith.  It is a short book of only three chapters - but the idea comes across clearly that faith must be growing, continually developing.   The third chapter begins with a plea from the prophet for God to do among them what he had done amongst his ancestors of old - in other words, be awesome in every way, delivering th...

9  Overlook an offense and bond a friendship;    fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend!  (Proverbs 17:9) There are times in life when an offense seems just too significant to overlook - there is just something about that offense that makes you think it is "justifiable" to remain angry with someone or to perhaps even break off the friendship.  Our passage from Proverbs this morning reminds us that when we overlook an offense, we are actually bringing a "bond" to that friendship that is like super glue.  When we "faster on to" an offense, we are taking the risk that the friendship will be harmed by that action. To overlook something means more than that we don't take notice of the offense.  It includes the idea of not taking time to consider that offense over and over again - we don't rehearse it repeatedly.  Ever been in a "heated" discussion with someone, only to have them bring up something you had done years before?  People who...

3  As silver in a crucible and gold in a pan,    so our lives are assayed by God.  (Proverbs 17:3) I lived in Alaska for three years.  One of the biggest "tourism" souvenirs that you could take with you back to the lower 48 was a gold pan.  Often, they would be fully painted with some scenery of the great gold rush days of Alaska or just an outdoor rendering.  The served as a memory of the big gold bonanza that brought many a prospector to the territory.   Silver is mined - then must be separated from all the various impurities that it is surrounded by such as sulfur, arsenic, antimony, chlorine, or argentite.  It is rarely found in some big clump that you can take out of the mine and say that it was purely silver.  There is a refining process that must occur in order to separate the other stuff from the silver.  Look at what silver is found "clinging" to: Sulfur - when burned, it can have a suffocating odor. ...