SCRIP-BITS

Oh Friends, the good, sunny weather that’s graced my area for the last week or so, is supposed to end today with rain all weekend. I just looked outside and it’s already begun. Chuh! But as Job says, we must learn to accept that good and bad usually go hand in hand. (Job 2:10)  But then too as Galileo Galilei, (1564-1642) the Italian scientist extraordinaire who formulated the basic law of falling bodies, is reputed to have said: ‘We cannot teach people anything: we can only help them discover it within themselves.’ That’s true in many cases, where we can only guide others, to find certain truths within themselves. And it seems like our Bit falls within that category. ‘He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.’ Now that’s the gospel truth my people! We can’t teach others to control their spirits, we have to lead them to the truth and hope they find the necessary will to do so. However, if we don’t possess the ability to control ourselves; our temper, our anger, our tongue, our physical reactions, then we are indeed like a wasted and dilapidated city, with no walls, where anything and everything goes. With no control over our spirit, our defences are down, or nonexistent; we react the wrong way to the pressures of life, giving in to our flesh, our circumstances, and the wiles of the enemy, thereby increasing our problems. And that’s certainly not the sensible or Christian way. But Cousin Sol realized that controlling one’s spirit was extremely important in all walks of life, that’s why he addressed it several times in different ways in his writings, especially in Proverbs. Let’s check out a few. ‘He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.’ (Prov.16:32) There we see that though you’re a great warrior, if you can’t control your spirit, then you become a much lesser personage in the eyes of both God and man. And yet again he declares: ‘He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit (impulsive) exalteth folly.’ (Prov.14:29) Ah Friends, Cousin Sol had such a way with words. If you can control your wrath, then you’re considered to have much understanding, like the fool who keeps his mouth shut, (Prov.17:28) but if not, you ‘exalteth folly,’ raise foolish behaviour to a high level it doesn’t deserve. And I guess that’s a big reason why so much folly exists in our society today, because everything now calls for haste, for speed, and when we’re not satisfied with the speed at which things are moving, like the long, slow lines to purchase stuff, the incessant traffic jams, a comparatively slow computer, our defences drop, we get angry and lose our cool. Then in Chap. 19, Cousin Sol further states: ‘The discretion of a man deferreth his anger (makes him slow to anger); and it is his glory to pass over (overlook) a transgression.’ (Prov.19:11) Yes my brethren, only in so far as we can control and discipline our spirits, are we able to walk purposefully in the will of God. And there’s only one way to achieve that discipline and control; by reading, studying, meditating on and digesting the Word of God. Only the Word can give us the discipline to stop and think before we talk and/or act. To rule our spirit requires that we remain calm and steadfast in the face of any adversity we face. And it’s a very good and worthwhile goal, one that all believers should attain to. Unfortunately though, it just doesn’t happen by osmosis, we have to work diligently at it. We have to renew our souls; thoughts, minds, hearts and emotions with the Word, which means spending serious time with God, to overcome the deficiency in our spirit. And the real culprit is not so much the anger nuh, but more the impatience which leads us to anger. As we said before, our society has become so impatient, that if we don’t get it ‘now for now,’ we get upset in a flash. And sadly, this rush to get stuff done immediately permeates right down to the core of our needs as a society. Just look at all the uprisings taking place in the Middle East and Africa. The existing conditions have been in place for years, but all of a sudden we expect them to change and get better immediately. And when it doesn’t happen, we get impatient, then angry, which leads to unnecessary strife and violence. Now it doesn’t mean that we’re wrong to want reform, but good reform doesn’t happen overnight, doesn’t happen without proper planning, foresight and forethought, otherwise we often end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire. And just as when we lose control over our individual spirit, when we lose control over our collective spirits, we suffer serious damage, with our cities not only broken and left without walls figuratively, but also literally, in the destruction and destabilization that follows. Oh Friends, this is only an overview of a very serious predicament that is currently challenging our world, and all the negative happenings aren’t making it any easier for us to learn and apply control of our spirits, but it’s something we have to work diligently at, else the bucket bottom soon drop out and everything crash. So I’m imploring us to delve into the Good Book with a passion, and get in agreement with God, ASAP, so that we can retake control of our spirits, our societies and our world, before the enemy destroys it, as he seems inclined to do. Much LOVE!…the Word…the Word…only the Word can set us free…