I did have to re-read the chapter a time or two to understand what it was trying to tell me. I try my best to take my thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5) at all times. Thoughts enter and exit all the time. It's controlling them that's tricky. Some thoughts I have to hastily push out once I realize it's coming from the "father of lies" (John 8:44). Satan is persistent though. He will continue to use thoughts to get to us. This is going to be a daily battle. In verse 2, Solomon is saying that we are not to be hasty in word or impulsive in thought--struggle, I know. Continuing to read the verses below, he goes I to more detail by explaining what he means...the quick fix. When something is going wrong for us, we want to get rid of it pronto! Right?!?!? What do we do? In our weak moments, we begin to appeal to God to take it from us and even go as far as bargaining with Him. We tell Him we'll be better spouses, parents, Christians, friends if He'll take this away. Solomon clearly warns us not to do this. Why? Because we don't follow through. Life gets back in the way and we forget our promise. Never a good idea to break a promise to God. Instead, try asking Him for wisdom or strength to deal with the issue. We're callable people. We will fail. Lets not make it worse by making promises we can't keep, to Him or anyone else.
The second half of the chapter deals with money. It's pretty simple really: don't put money and stuff above God. All good things come from God (James 1:17). He just expects us to keep Him first in all we do. It's ok to be financially well off. God provides. Enjoy it responsibly while you're alive. Use it to further His Kingdom. Solomon cautions us to not hoard. It isn't ours anyway, remember James 1:17? We are born naked; we will also die naked (without stuff).
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