The Proverbs :: A Guidebook for Menनमूना

As men, we so desire things just out of reach. We come alive when faced with a challenge because they are exciting. We were designed for work and accomplishment, for struggle and victory. But what happens when the world twists this design and dangles it in front of us? We become adrenaline junkies striving for a bigger, higher, faster goal. Money. Power. Status. Pleasure. Carrots are rotten when bitten into. And they’re killing us. It’s not unlike how quickly you acclimate to something constant. You sleep on a plane hurtling through the air at 30,000 feet, but measure your heart rate at takeoff, and you’ll find what gets your blood pumping. The speed isn’t what triggers the adrenaline; it’s the acceleration. Said another way: We grow weary of the amazing at the slightest sign of the immediate. Always wanting more, we rarely consider that we are breathing and woke this morning with a beating heart. We move past the blessing of family, the enjoyment of hard work, and the life in front of us, seeking to satiate that craving for new. We ignore the warning of Proverbs 23 daily. We envy our neighbor’s wealth; we wear ourselves out to pursue wealth that fades with the dust, and our eyes linger on what we do not have. Why? On our own and apart from Christ’s salvation, we have no hope of finding the harbor of righteousness and sailing in the proper course of Jesus’s great love for us. How many times have you watched a man lose his way because he started comparing his life to someone else’s? How many good men have thrown away their marriages and families because they took their envy into their own hands? How many sleepless nights worrying about tomorrow have led to the reappearing of sinful habits? When we ignore God's promises and put our faith in self-manufactured hope, we reap the reward of our own folly: desolation and ruin. Holy confidence is found in knowing that your heart can be rooted in a better truth, in standing on the reality that your future is secure – that your future is in the hands of the Provider. Our mindset shifts when we release the lie that our next accomplishment determines our worth. Jesus put an end to that way of living. With Him, in wholeness as His child, we no longer need ‘the next thing.’ We may walk daily in the simplicity of knowing that our relationship with Him is everything. Old habits will always die hard, but we are equipped to control ourselves and take rogue desires captive through the Holy Spirit. We can enter into a beautiful life— a steady one created by God for us. — Lord, today I commit to choosing You. I cast aside all desires that aren’t from You. When my flesh leads me down paths I know aren’t towards You, give me the strength to course correct. I confess to often believing the lies that my worth is found in things other than You. Today, I acknowledge that in You, I have all I need. Help me to live in confidence because of that fact. Amen.