Live 4 The LORD

The Unbelieving are foolish

They know good things but don’t know who fashioned them

Because of the beauty of what was made they thought them gods instead of thinking of who made them

The Lord the author of beauty is even better!

If that which was made is powerful imagine how much more powerful is God who made them

Still they are without excuse 

For since they could investigate the created how could they not investigate the creator and find him. 

Wisdom 13:1-9

For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature;

and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists,

nor did they recognize the artisan while paying heed to his works;

but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air

or the circle of the stars or turbulent water

or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.

If through delight in the beauty of these things people assumed them to be gods,

let them know how much better than these is their Lord,

for the author of beauty created them.

And if people were amazed at their power and working,

let them perceive from them

how much more powerful is he who formed them.

For from the greatness and beauty of created things

comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.

Yet these people are little to be blamed,

for perhaps they go astray

while seeking God and desiring to find him.

For as they live among his works they keep searching,

and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful.

Yet again, not even they are to be excused;

for if they had the power to know so much

that they could investigate the world,

how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?

When man dies he is required to return the soul lent to him

Instead of seeing his life as brief he competes with others in what he thinks is an idle game and a festival for profit

He knows ghat he sins when he makes his own gods

His hope is cheaper than dirt his life less worth than clay

He failed to know who formed him and gave him a soul and breathed a spirit within. 

Wisdom 15:8-13

With misspent toil, he forms a futile god from the same clay—

this man who was made of earth a short time before

and after a little while goes to that from which he was taken,

when he is required to return the soul that was lent him.

But he is not concerned that he is destined to die

or that his life is brief,

but he competes with workers in gold and silver

and imitates workers in copper;

and he counts it his glory that he molds counterfeit gods.

His heart is ashes, his hope is cheaper than dirt,

and his life is of less worth than clay,

because he failed to know the one who formed him

and inspired in him an active soul

and breathed into him a living spirit.

But he considered our existence an idle game,

and life a festival held for profit,

for he says one must get money however one can, even by base means.

For this man, more than all others, knows that he sins

when he makes from earthy matter fragile vessels and carved images.

Judging another often comes from a heart that has little interior knowledge, understanding or personal insight.  They feel this disorder within and project it out on others.  This is helpful to understand for two reasons.  First, if you tend to judge, stop and look into your heart.  There is a very good chance that you do not know who you are, what your sins are, or how God sees your soul. 

"Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Again and again we seem to hear God saying this to us. "Come unto me" for the solution of every problem, for the overcoming of every temptation, for the calming of every fear, for all our needs, physical, mental, or spiritual, but mostly, "come unto me" for the strength we need to live with peace of mind and the power to be useful and effective. 

God will forgive you if you forgive others. Forgiving those who cause offense or injury is often exceedingly difficult. And yet, forgiveness is one of the most beautiful and important teachings of Jesus Christ. It is central to the gospel because, without it, you can’t go to heaven.