2024 Theme          

Happy New Year, former procrastinators!

May the Lord bless you with a renewed heart and mind ready to walk with Him in 2024.  I’m beginning this year with a slap to my forehead:  “Why haven’t we done this before?  Like long long ago?”  That’s how I feel about this year’s theme.  I’m trusting God for the timing, because I’ve been thinking “This is so important.  When to do it?”  Now.

This year’s theme is “Proverbs in Practice.”

“Practical Proverbs” was one choice but that sounds like only certain proverbs are practical.  No, they all are.  “Practicing Proverbs” sounds like we might mess around with trying a few ideas.  No, this is God’s holy word given for us to observe at all times.  So, I settled on “Proverbs in Practice” because as we review these scriptures, we can daily put them into action in our personal lives.

Yes, the Proverbs are for us today.  Often it seems we skim over the pithy statements in that book and just keep on rolling.  We picture women in long robes carrying clay pots on their shoulders and think the Proverbs applied to them back then but not so much to us.  Actually, we get to benefit from the words of wisdom just as much now as those women did.

It’s important to recognize that Proverbs is not a book of promises or commands, but a book of guidelines.  They are short and to the point. Some statements are very blunt.  In fact, there are a lot of “ouches.”

Sometimes we want to be an exception to the stated truth.  We hope or think we can get away with behavior that brings a negative consequence to others, but surely, not to us. That is risky thinking. God chose to include Proverbs in His holy scriptures.  We should heed their warning.

Some Proverbs speak directly to procrastination.  Others that don’t speak directly to the issue still have application in our area.  We can mine this book for gold. It will be a new year filled with treasure!

The time has come.  Are you ready to find some valuable nuggets?