The Blessing of Avoiding
Some troubles are unavoidable. Others are a choice.
One of my favorite psalms in the Bible is the first one. The fact it is in the Jewish song book and not Proverbs indicates to me that it was sung. Singing aids in retention. I bet this song was taught to children in school. The reason I think this is because it has within it the kind of lesson we should all want to learn as early in life as possible -- before it’s too late.
Much of the time raising children is trying to teach them to avoid danger, to keep them from harm. Psalm 1 begins in the same spirit.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
Personally, I usually think about being blessed as being given some marvelous thing. Here, however, I find that if I have avoided certain pitfalls, life for me is blessed, it shows signs of God’s favor.
Going deeper, it isn’t about what to avoid but who to avoid. Before listening to advice, to sales pitches, I should first discern something about the character of the one speaking.
Let’s turn it around.
Before I speak to give advice, it is critical that I have a sound moral character. In the world of commerce, I should care more about others, even strangers, than I do about products and services to sell — which means, if anyone can develop such discernment early in life they might avoid working within shaky companies in the first place.
Another area where this advice would be helpful is in selecting a university to attend. What are its stated moral positions? Do they stand for anything close to the concept of goodness?
Or are they scoffers?
Now please enjoy listening to my brother from another mother. I’d sit under his teaching any day.