Proverbs 5:11 and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
I have a friend in Scotland who has a yacht. The person who lives next door to him also has a yacht, although his yacht is a racing catamaran. There are nets slung between the main body and the two outlying hulls. When we went sailing with him I loved to lay down in these nets, in a “superman” position, nose inches from the water as we hurtled along at an incredible speed with all sails full.
Sometimes when we went out in my friend’s yacht we would just meander around, sailing out through the narrows into the ocean and then around some of the uninhabited islands, where we would anchor and go ashore to make a bonfire on a long-hidden beach. There we would laugh and talk into the wee hours as a million stars came out to embrace the deep black sky. Slipping back on board at silly o’clock we would clamber wearily into our bunks asleep a deep and refreshing sleep.
Sometimes when we would sail I would get the be the helmsman, the person who manoeuvred the vessel, looking to catch the wind in the sails and to manage the sails well. I would be staring ahead looking at the wave patterns, trying to read the wind over the next visible distance so I could continue to keep the sails full, yacht tilted, and the sweet sound and feeling of momentum at its optimum. It’s a beautiful thing sailing when the only sound is the wind in the sails and they are perfectly full. Sometimes the wind would drop and we would tack back and forth hoping the wind would pick up again. We never knew when, so we stayed prepared.
To me it’s a great picture of life, as we are desperate for the wind of the Holy Spirit, we position ourselves, our life, our motives, our heart and our mind for the moments that we sense His wind in our sails. In some ways this is what our life is all about now, we are sailors willing to go where the wind takes us, and our role is to be prepared and ready. It does not always go the way we think it will.
I can’t imagine a life empty of The Holy Spirit now, where the end is as written above, groaning and consumption. It’s not a scripture we would write on anyone’s retirement card, is it? But for millions of people, it is a possibility right now, that is the end they are drifting towards.
Let’s purpose for our lives to count, to be in the place where we catch the wind of The Spirit and move where God wants us to move, so that none may be lost overboard?
KNOWLEDGE
As Christians I think we want to start well, to do the “between times” well, and to finish well. The decisions we make each day have an influence and effect on how we finish. The writer’s story here is following a progression, telling us initially to listen with all that’s in us, and having heard, to follow the imparted counsel of heaven. Furthermore, we are garnered away from anything that would entice us to leave the path God has for our feet. If we disregard this leadership impartation and make our own choices, the writer plots out a very different path for us.
Others will be given our honour by us, we will give the best part of our lives to those who have no care at all for us, people we don’t know and may never meet will help themselves to all we have, with nothing off-limits. Others from far away places will gain any and all benefits that we might expect to be ours.
The end of our life will be filled with sadness and groaning until there is nothing left.
What a bleak picture is painted by procrastination, what a terrible outcome is determined by disobedience, and what a frightening end is established by an empty life.
It does not have to be like this……stop now……get right with God…..lean into His ways, and learn to be loved by Him.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for “groan” in Hebrew is pronounced “naham” and appears four times in the Old Testament. In the ESV it is translated into English as groan; growl; and, roaring. I think the idea of groaning and growling with disappointment is where this scripture is pointing us to.
WISDOM – what decision can you make today that will move you closer to God’s ways?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Context is always learning from the past, gaining insights from previous turning points in your own and others’ lives. Your internal software runs continual root cause analysis searches and uses the outcome to shape the future.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – [on the far side of your life you let out roars of suffering, your self, your very person, and your whole body is wiped out and utterly destroyed.]
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to listen to you as a son to a loving father, to stay far away from disobedience and trauma. Thank you.
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Life can be so good, times where everything just seems to have His hand of blessing on every step but then other times it seems every demon in hell is hammering you. I am reminded that how one starts something is not the victory but how we finish! Also the journey along the way needs to be enjoyed!
Thanks Allan for some amazing thoughts!
Our role is to be prepared and ready. – Great! I always want to be prepared and ready and remain steadfast.
The decisions we make each day have influence and effect on how we finish. – I always want to rely on Him for guidance for each decision.
Love your wisdom question. Love hearing about your adventure story about sailing.
Thanks Allan. What a picture of warning for us in our life of decisions,” The end of our life will be filled with sadness and groaning, until there is nothing left.“
Lord lead us in your ways in a life of promise and joy peace beyond all understanding we pray.
As usual blown away by your stunning ability to put other people’s thoughts into your own words words
From a world much travelled you have gleaned an amazing prophecy to inspire
To enable me to really look into my self and put things back in order
I know I need to reboot my “software system” ….actually I AM. Rebooting
It’s ok to say it’s not too late it’s never too late
Thank you Allan
Hi ps Allan; thanks for God words; yes that true we learning from the own past also sometimes from others ; well I think is every day asking my God helping look after my spirits in some many way ; I don’t want To do disobedience Bcos the results could be no good x me .; pray all the time .
Thx u
God bless
So good pastor Alan, u link the wind wiv the Holy Spirit (as he is called) & yes sometimes we don’t know what direction we are heading in But wen we hav the Holy Spirit directing our path it always leads us into place that God has laid before us, which gives us purpose why we are heading up that path, which brings about peace in our lives and Brings us great comfort knowing that our God is wiv us👍🏾👏🏽😉.
I like the analogy you made Allan of your experiences sailing and likening it to how we wait on the Holy Spirit to direct us.
This verse reminds us to heed the warning and stop before it is too late, before we reach this horrific end. Many are the temptations and pitfalls in this life and we are taught to listen to our Father’s instructions, apply them into our daily life and obey till the end. If we stray, we are taught to go back and ask for forgiveness. He is waiting to forgive us and welcome us back as his much loved children.
Thanks Psstor Allan – you’ll be in the Sydney to Hobart next!!
Yes such truth – life is a major learning curve & if we can learn the lessons early & well in our lives all the better for the future outcome. Being born again & spirit filled at an early age & being teachable & obedient to the ways of the Lord can only set us up for a win! Having the Holy Spirit as the wind in our sails & holding the rudder of our life brings such comfort & hope. On the other hand being dismissive of God & His ways can lead us to a life of regret & often destruction & ultimately eternal damnation which is the worst possible end.
‘Let’s purpose for our lives to count, to be in the place where we catch the wind of The Spirit and move where God wants us to move, so that none may be lost overboard?’
What a great thought Allan… that we would be intentional every day to ensure that what we are doing ‘counts’ toward the purposes of God. That we would do all we can to position ourselves right in the centre of God’s purpose and plan for us in order that no one in our paths maybe lost…
As always your words enlarge my thinking and challenge me…
Your internal software runs continual root cause analysis searches and uses the outcome to shape the future. Gold!
This is so true – I can’t imagine a life empty of The Holy Spirit now. We need the Holy spirit to hrlp us make the right decisions so we can get closer to God.
Thank you Ps Allan.
The desition I would make today to move closer to God would be,to listen to the leading of the Holy spirit,and heed his direction .
To trust him even when the road ahead seems uncertain.
To know that He delivers always what he has promised 🙏