Readings for: 
Saturday, July 20: Proverbs 22 – 23 
Sunday, July 21: Proverbs 24 – 26

I’d reiterate again, it’s hard to make a connection and comment on most of the readings through Proverbs, as many of the Proverbs speak for themselves. I did note however, one particular Proverb that caught my attention as I read on Sunday.

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great;
For it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. “
Proverbs 25:6-7a

Reading these two verses I was transported to the feet of Jesus as I heard him say it in these words:

On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath . . . he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
(Luke 14:1, 7 – 14)

A humbling reminder! All too many of us think to highly of ourselves, and believe that we have a right to sit at a place of honor. In God’s eyes this can’t be farther from the truth. In God’s eyes, because of our sinful nature, we shouldn’t even be allowed in the doors let alone a place of honor. Thanks be to God that Jesus has interceded on our behalf, and has invited us as a guest in his presence. At his invitation, we are invited forward, through his outstretched hands on the cross. Because he took our place, we need to remember our own place, and live accordingly. Therefore be humble in all you do, in all you say, and where you might sit when invited to the table!

Peace,
Pastor Bailey

Readings for the next few days: 
Monday, July 22: Proverbs 27 – 29 
Tuesday, July 23: Proverbs 30 – 31
Wednesday, July 24: Ecclesiastes 1 – 4
Thursday, July 25: Ecclesiastes 5 – 8