Proverbs 1:1 says, The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;  First, we see that Solomon is identified as the author.  Solomon was known as one of the wisest kings of all time, and he offers us some good advice on how to live our lives.  Verse two states, To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;  Solomon gives us the reason that he was writing these proverbs, and that is so we can know wisdom and understand the words of instruction.  Solomon sought out the truth of the world, and concluded that the purpose of mankind was to serve God.  Verse three says, To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;  These are four very important reasons to receive these instructions.  If we want wisdom, justice, judgment and equity in the world, we can only find it by being obedient to the word of God.  This is what Solomon was really sharing with us.  In verse four Solomon continues, To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.  Solomon said he was writing this to help even the simple understand what life is really about, and to teach young people knowledge and discretion.  Too often, the young people of the world are caught up in whatever the latest fad is, but we as followers of Christ must teach them the knowledge of God and discretion in their actions.  Verse five states, A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:  Solomon tells us if we are wise, we will listen to what he has to say.  Verse six adds, To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.  It is not enough to just read these proverbs, but we must understand what they are really teaching us about men and women, and their relationship to God and others.  Verse seven declares, The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Solomon declares that the fear, or respect, of God is the beginning of understanding.  I don't believe that fear of God means that we are afraid of Him, but means that we have an awesome respect for Him.  Verse eight states, My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:  This basically tells us that children are to respect their parents and follow their rules.  We could use a lot more of this today.  Verse nine says, For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.  I believe that this means that following the rules of parents make the children look good.  It also leads them to be better people, as a general rule.  While it is true that not all parents are looking out for the best interest of their children, almost all are.  Verse ten says, My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.  This sounds like it would be simple, logical advice to follow, but to often sin can be made to look desirable.  That is why Solomon advised us not to be enticed by sin.  The next four verses warn where this can lead.  Verse eleven declares, If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:  Then verse twelve says, Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:  Verse thirteen continues, We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:  Then verse fourteen concludes, Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:  This is basically a gang mentality.  Children are enticed to join in with the promise of gaining wealth by taking it from others and sharing it together.  There is also the lack of concern that those from whom the wealth is taken from may suffer, and maybe even the desire that they will.  We see or hear of this so often in the world today, but it is nothing new.  In verse fifteen, Solomon again warns, My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:  Solomon tells us to not follow the path of those who would steal from and harm others.  Verse sixteen says, For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.  We are warned not to be enticed by those who follow evil and have no respect for the lives of others.  Verse seventeen says, Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.  I believe that Solomon is telling us that if we could really see the trap of following those who live by the evil in their hearts that we wouldn't fall into their trap.  Verse eighteen concludes, And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.  I believe that this is a warning that ultimately those who follow after evil will pay with their own lives.  This may not occur in this lifetime, but it certainly will in God's judgment.  Verse nineteen declares, So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.  This is just a further statement that those who seek to profit from stealing and murder will one day pay for their crimes.

Another thing that we learned from the book of Matthew is that God expects us to use the things we have been blessed with, our talents, for His glory.  I believe this means abilities and resources.  God never intended to bless us just so we could keep His blessings stored away simply for our own use..  If we are to be good stewards of the things that God blesses us with, then we must use them for His glory.  We can never allow fear of losing something, whatever it might be, to keep us from using the things God blesses us with to accomplish the task He presents us with.  We are not to just sit and wait for the return of Christ, but we are to be at work for His kingdom until He returns.  We also learned that we are to be prepared for the return of Christ at any moment.  When Jesus returns, it will be to late to suddenly realize that we need Him.  We must make the decision to follow Jesus in this lifetime and before His return.  We also learn that bold professions of faith are not enough if we don't follow through with them.  We, like Peter, may claim to follow Jesus even if it cost us our lives, then fail to stay awake to pray for an hour.  I believe that most of our tests of faith will come in the little things, and if we fail there, we will most likely fail when the big tests come.  We also learn that the crucifixion of Christ was something that He willingly endured.  In spite of what some movies may depict, I do not believe that Jesus wavered on the way to the cross.  Jesus had already prayed that if there was another way, let it be shown to Him, and the answer was that there was not.  There is still no other way today.  Then, we learn that the cross and tomb were not the end.  The really good news of the book of Matthew is that Jesus arose from the dead and goes before us to prepare a place for us.  This is the message that we, as followers of Christ, are to proclaim to the world today.  Next, we will look at the book of Proverbs.

We also learned that many people followed Jesus simply because of the miracles that He performed, and not because they believed that He really was the Messiah.  It is not enough to follow Jesus because we have seen a miracle performed in someone's life, without accepting Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of all who believe in Him.  It is easy to get caught up in the miraculous things that we see God doing in the world, but still have doubt about Jesus being the only way to salvation.  The crowds that enthusiastically followed Jesus were the same ones who said to crucify Him, and they were led by the religious leaders in calling for Jesus' crucifixion.  Being religious, following all the rituals associated with being a Christian, is not enough.  Being baptized and being in church is not enough without a spiritual relationship with Christ.  We also learn that we are to have compassion for those around us, especially those in need.  Jesus was never too busy to help those who came to Him in faith asking for His help and He didn't overlooked the everyday needs of people.  Jesus healed the lame, deaf, and blind, but He also feed the multitudes when He saw that they were hungry and had no where to get food.  We can rely on God to meet our needs.  I don't believe that means that God will heal all our illnesses in this life, but that as long as we reach out to Him in faith that one day all illnesses will be healed.  I also believe that sometimes our illnesses will be miraculously healed in this lifetime, but the main point is that our sins are forgiven if we put our faith in Jesus as our Savior and the Lord of our lives.  Some people lose faith because they say that they prayed for healing, or anything else for that matter, and they didn't get it.  As followers of Christ, we must have an everlasting point of view.  Whatever happens before the return of Christ, we are already a part of His everlasting kingdom, where pain and sorrow will be no more.

As we move past Christmas, we will continue to look at more of what we have learned from the book of Matthew.  We learned that just like John the Baptist, there are some great men, and women, who can point us to Jesus, but they cannot save us.  We can only point people to Christ, and as followers of Christ, this is our assigned purpose.  All that we do should point people to Christ.  We know that Jesus called twelve ordinary men to be His closest disciples.  This was not because they were more worthy than anyone else by their own nature or abilities, but they became more because of their relationship with Christ.  No matter how closely we walk with Jesus, we can never claim to be better than anyone else based in our own goodness.  We can also say that like Judas, not all who claim to be close to Jesus really believe in Him.  I know that we could say none of the disciples truly believed until after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, but the were not following Him simply for their own benefit, as I believe Judas was.  There are those today who proclaim that if we follow Jesus we will benefit materially, but all God's word ever promises is a cross and that our daily needs will be met.  Relying on God to meet our needs daily is not the same as relying on God to fulfill our wants daily.  The disciples left everything to follow Jesus.  They did this because Jesus asked them to do so.  Though I don't believe that as followers of Christ we need to leave our job, home, or family in order to follow Jesus, we must be willing to do so if He calls us to.  We must not allow anything to come between God and us.  We know that some of the disciples were more outspoken in their profession of faith than others, but their actions often failed to back up their words when their faith was tested.  We need to ensure that we are not the same way.

Christmas Gift

Laid in a manger,
When He was born,
His life was in danger,
That Christmas morn.
The miracle of His birth,
Was not yet known,
God come down to earth,
To redeem it as His own.
Though centuries have passed,
Since that first Christmas day,
The Good News will last,
'Til the world passes away.
Christ is still the reason,
To celebrate the season.
         25 Dec 18
           JBD

As we celebrate Christmas, we will continue to look back on that first Christmas, though not all will come from the book of Matthew.  The book of Luke gives us a more detailed account of that first Christmas, including why Mary and Joseph were in Galilee, by the order of the government, and the fact that there was no room in any inn for them.  We also learn about the shepherds being the first ones to receive the good news of the birth of Christ.  We might have thought that the announcement would have gone to the leaders of the world, or at least to the religious leaders, but it went to a group of lowly shepherds instead.  The message of Christ today goes first to an individual, or a group of individuals, who are just as lowly as those shepherds before God, no matter how much they may possess of the things of this world.  The gospel will never come from the dictates of the leaders of this world, but will always spread outward from individuals.  The shepherds believed the message of the angels and went to see this miraculous birth for themselves.  Ultimately, that is what each individual must do, and what better way to celebrate Christmas than to go see Jesus for ourselves.  We, as followers of Christ, must keep Christ at the center of Christmas.  As we celebrate Christmas, with our trees and decorations, gifts and dreams of snow, let us not forget that the day is a celebration of the birth of Christ first.  We need to still marvel at the fact that Jesus came to earth to die for the sins of all people.  The only gift we can really offer Him is our life in obedience to His will.  So, this Christmas, may those who are followers of Christ reach out to those around them with the gospel of Christ and the love of God, which is what we are called to do.

Since we are in the Christmas season, which seems to get longer and longer, but not from worshipping Christ more, we will spend a little more time looking at the events around the time of the birth of Jesus.  As stated, the wise men first went to Herod to inquire about Jesus.  I am not sure if the star stopped moving or if the wise men simply thought they must be close and decided to find Jesus on their own.  If we are looking for Jesus, God will lead us all the way to Him if we simply follow His leadership by faith.  The wise men had come out of curiosity about a star, but they left having met the Savior.  Herod wanted the wise men to come back to him and tell him where Jesus was, supposedly in order to worship Jesus himself, but really so that he might kill Him.  People have been attempting to destroy Jesus and His message since shortly after His birth.  Though Jesus was crucified, His message and purpose on earth, to be the only way to redemption, never will be.  This Christmas, as there always has been, there will be many who are attempting to destroy the message of Christ and those who follow Him, but they will never be successful.  Some of these attempts will come from individuals, and some will come from governments.  What we cannot afford to do is to allow ourselves, as followers of Christ, to destroy the message of Christmas.  If we fail to emphasize the day or season as being a celebration of the birth of Christ, then we help to destroy the real message of Christmas.  Christmas is a time to be thankful that Christ came to earth to restore all who believe in Him to a right relationship with God.  Now we, as followers of Christ, are to work to present the message of Christmas to the world, keeping Christ at the center of the celebration.