"We have a little sister too young to have breasts. What will we do for our sister if someone asks to marry her? If she is a virgin, like a wall, we will protect her with a silver tower. But if she is promiscuous, like a swinging door, we will block her door with a cedar bar." (S.O.S. 8:8-9 NLT)
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
There are certain things in life that should cause us to pay attention, and then, there are those that might tend to distract us and cause us to take our eyes off of the Lord; envy and pride are two of the most useful tools of the enemy to cause that kind of distraction. I seriously doubt that Solomon had much of an issue with envy; he basically had almost anything and everything that he wanted, so the only thing that he might have lacked was a simple life. Pride on the other hand, it was way too hard to resist being proud of all of that stuff and so many wives; but even then, God has a way of making good on His promises.
To be totally truthful, I tend to get carried away sometimes; maybe not by that which God has blessed me with, but the accomplishments that I have been able to achieve with God's blessings. Is it bragging to tell people how awesome God is and encourage them to try something I know and believe that God loves us to try? Maybe, to some it might be a little braggadocious to tell others how much God loves a cheerful giver, and to explain how it is that God challenges us to test Him on our giving, to see whether or not He will do what He says. (Malachi 3:10-11)
Believe it or not, but there are a certain type of people that do not like cheerful givers; call it envy or jealousy, or whatever you like; but there is just something that makes them feel offended by anyone that gives freely and cheerfully, what could have been theirs. We know that that is called, right? Do you know what commandment Paul was most aware he broke? It is pretty much that which causes us to envy what others might have; whether it be freedom or power, riches or fame; maybe even a little bit of happiness, even though they should be miserable.
Matthew Henry attributes these two verses to both the Young Man and the Young Woman addressing the furtherance of there commitment to love one another; almost as if they are consulting one another about their affairs that might need to be straightened out, before staring this journey together. Others have this being that of the Young Woman's Brothers, who catch word of their little sister, and are challenging her commitment and qualifications in marriage.
This is not quite the same feeling I am getting; but it is very close, because it involves our ability to move forward, based upon our lack of ability to see ourselves going anywhere. On the one hand, we have nothing all that great to offer; but on the other hand, we have unlimited riches! We cannot see the possibilities; but the possibilities are endless! This is not something that can we teach others to do, because it involves putting trust in God where there is nothing to hold onto, but God. Then it becomes something that they can only learn on their own, it is just between them and the Lord.
Not everyone has the same journey, but we all have the same way to get where we are going...
"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scriptures saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:10-13)
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