This is so much one of my favorite proverbs that one of my friends printed it out on a card and laminated it so that I could read it whenever I wanted or needed to.
We take refuge in God's promise of salvation.
But the possibility of adding to God's words can be a problem for teachers of Scripture such as myself. In fact, I have warned other teachers that we have a sacred responsibility to teach truth.
What I write in these reflections are for the most part my own thoughts and are not meant to teach other than what God intends. If I write anything that goes beyond my own thoughts, I research to make sure that it reflects the actual teachings acceptable to all Christian denominations.
After all, Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land because of his misrepresentation of God in the desert.
The second part of this proverb teaches us that too much or too little can contribute to sin. When we have too little, we might be forced to steal in order to survive or take care of our families. If we have too much, then we can feel that we don't need God.
It is easy to understand the need to steal when we have nothing.
I may have mentioned this before, but there was a religious group in America called the Shakers. They were active in the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. They were famous for their simple lifestyle.
When they realized that the poor who lived in the areas where they cultivated their vegetables were stealing the produce, their solution was to plant more vegetables.
The proud and self-satisfied have difficulty understanding that all they have is gift, and that they have a responsibility to those who have little.
Let us not dishonor our God.
