Welcome to a group of women who's goal is to encourage each other to put down some serious roots in the Word of God. This blog is dedicated to reading through the Bible in a year. Hopefully you will find the encouragement and accountability here that you need to push through the tough parts- or when life just gets in the way. The reading plan is located at the bottom of the blog. It contains links to the passages we are reading through biblegateway.com. You can use those links or read your own Bible, whichever you prefer.
We are all members of Oak Hill Baptist Church in Griffin, Georgia and felt the need in our own life for a little bit of the Lord's splendor. Please join us!!

Friday, August 5, 2011

It's All About Relationships


















As we get closer to the end of the book of Proverbs, something struck me. I was trying to step back a little bit and see the "big" picture of the book of Proverbs so that I could try to get a better grasp on all of the amazing pieces of wisdom that are tucked in this incredible book. And as I glanced back over this book, one common thread kept popping out at me...RELATIONSHIPS. All of these proverbs are somehow tied to and deal with the relationships in our lives:

  • Relationships with our families

  • Relationships with our spouses (even the "dripping, nagging" ones!)

  • Relationships with our enemies

  • Relationships with our leaders

  • Relationships with the poor

  • Relationships with strangers

  • Relationships with ourselves

  • Relationships with animals

  • And most importantly, our relationship with the Lord

When I thought about the fact that God made us as a relational being and that the triune nature of God is itself the very essence of relationship, then it is no wonder that God in His wondrous wisdom made sure a WHOLE book of the Bible was dedicated to rules and wisdom about the relationships in our lives. The more I get to know the Lord, the more I realize that He is really brilliant and just flat out knows what He is doing! ;) And so I also know that our relationships are of the utmost importance to Him. If you consider Jesus' own ministry, everything was centered around relationships. Relationships with His family, with His disciples, with strangers, with those in authority, with those He healed, with His enemies, and most importantly, with God the Father.

When I looked up the dictionary definition of "relationships", there was one word that each of the definitions had in common. That word was "connection". That is just the point...we are all connected together is some fashion. And that is EXACTLY how God intended for it to be. That is why the two greatest commandments that Jesus gave us are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).

So take a look for yourself at this wise and profound book and see that every single verse has to do with one aspect of these many relationships. This goes along so well with what Jaybrena said in her post yesterday. The well-worn paths in our lives are there for one important reason...RELATIONSHIPS!!!


Posted by at
Labels:

6 comments:

  1. MindyAugust 6, 2011 at 4:44 PM

    I wanted to add to PLEASE pray for the 31 families who lost a soldier in the helicopter that was shot down. We need to bathe them in lots and lots of prayer!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. NatalieAugust 6, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    Mindy, what a wonderful and fresh perspective! You are so right. So much of this book deals with how to wisely navigate the relationships we share! I never thought of it that way! Perhaps God also knew that would be an area we would need the most help in. He certainly knows us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NatalieAugust 6, 2011 at 8:51 PM

    Also- yes. My heart is broken for those who lost a relationship today. At least for while they walk this earth. My prayers go out to their families.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BootsAugust 6, 2011 at 9:54 PM

    As I think I might of mentioned before but we don't watch or listen to the news up here so I did not hear about this tragic killing that happened. I will certainly be praying for their families. As you did this post on relationships, I can see how this fits in because even though we may not know any of these men or their families, we are connected with them. We hurt for their families as they are part of ours in that we as citizens of the US claim our servicemen for our own.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BarbaraAugust 7, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    A day late - sorry - but I didn't get to the computer until this morning Mindy.

    What a great post - and you hit the nail on the head. If there is an overall caption for Proverbs it is Relationships. Thanks. You can always see the bigger picture. And speaking of pictures - loved the one of your horses and sweet girl!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JaybrenaAugust 8, 2011 at 1:19 PM

    I love how the Lord uses all of walks of life and brings us to the same conclusions......this is an amazing "path", ladies, thank you for pouring your heart and mind over these precious words.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)