Bible Study 6/15

Proverbs 13:13-25

Verses 12 and 19 contain two interesting proverbs.

v12 - "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life"

v.19 - "A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools."

The hope deferred is easily understood, as is turning away from evil. But what is unclear is how the fulfillment of a desire is related to the two. Is v.12 speaking of deferring hope in a negative sense? What kind of desire is it talking about? Is v.19 trying to say that a desire fulfilled and turning away from evil are equivalent or similar?

Romans 12:1-8

Verses 1 and 2 form one of the mountain tops of Scripture and the book of Romans. Paul's appeal to them is to present themselves as "a living sacrifice" - something continually offered to God for his pleasure and use. The sacrifice has been made "holy and acceptable" to God by the blood of Christ, so God accepts our sacrifice. It is our reasonable act of worship in light of God's mercies towards us, which is what Paul makes his appeal on. These mercies are the foundation on which we are able to offer ourselves to God; they include his great love for us, the forgiveness of our sins, the redemption out of slavery, the adoption as sons, the new birth, justification, sanctification, glorification, the gift of God's Spirit - everything else found in Ephesians 1. In the overwhelming light of these mercies, we respond by offering ourselves to God in obedience.

How do we make this offering? In verse 2, Paul explains that we do so not by being conformed to the pattern of the world, but by being transformed by the renewing of our minds. This transformation implicitly comes from Scripture, as through it we discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect. As we discover God's will through the Scripture, we yield our own will and align to his, renewing our minds and setting ourselves apart from the world.

Having now begun to talk about the practical Christian life, he then moves in to a section where he encourages unity both by sober self-judgment (an honest evaluation of self, defeating pride) and by the use of diverse gifts within the "body" to help the body function. The believers have gifts "according to the grace given to us" - none of these gifts can we claim credit for apart from the grace of God. The emphasis here is not on the Christian life being about discovering your gift and not worrying about the others, but on doing what you are able to do for the good of the community of believers with passion.