[this is great freedom]

I was reading in Proverbs 5 today about Solomon's warnings against adultery. And in some ways, it's easy to skim over these kind of passages because even our society condemns adultery. Like - "this is nothing new God. People in-general know this is wrong. They don't have to necessarily follow You."

But what stuck with me from the passage that I'm still unraveling is verses 3-4 - "For the lips of the adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword." Charming. Smooth. Attractive. But in the end bitter. Repulsive. Sour in your heart and soul.

It reminds me of what we were talking about last night at small group. Psalm 39 was our chapter of study, and we focused a lot of time on verse 4-7 that talk about our lives being but a breath of time. We also talked about how our initial reaction to this idea is that it's kind of depressing. Yet the word that kept coming to me was freedom. There is freedom in this that the world doesn't know.

"Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:" verse 6 says. "He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it." That's the NIV version. Now check out how it reads in the Aramaic Bible in Plain English:

"Because a man walks in an image and he fades away like a vapor; he lays down his treasures and does not know for whom he gathered them."

An image. A phantom. A vapor. A breath. That is our existence, and yet you know what? That is also our hope. That we were not only made for this world but eternity. That we don't have to be chained by the things our culture puts all their identity and hope in - whether it be our careers, our salaries, our homes, our outward beauty, our stuff, our physical fitness, our status, our success in this world, our achievements or our positions of authority.

Because in the end it won't matter. We can live out an identity not rooted in those things that change and pass like shifting sand, and I think our culture and world is hungry for that.

I mean, let's face it. Every one of us has been let down by the things we pursue of this world. I'll confess it first. I value my physical fitness a lot. That's half of the reason I run. The other is that I need something physical yet mindless to wear off my worries and thoughts and prayers, but I also care about the way I look. I care about how my clothes fit. I find confidence in these things, and yet it is a danger when I become obsessed with it. It's a danger when I find my value in it. Because truth is, I never made it to that state cross country meet in high school even though I was down to 118 pounds. I never will be the one who can pull of skinny jeans. And yet I know that I have never been measured in God's eyes by the size of my clothes.

This is great hope friends. This is great freedom. We no longer need to waste sleep or time or thoughts over things that are fleeting. We can enjoy them yes. I still plan to keep running. And we can value them yes. God calls me to take care of my body He has given me. It's His temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20). But I cannot, we cannot, find our worth in this kind of thing and only this. That is the danger. Often these things look charming and fulfilling from the outside - just like the adulteress in Proverbs 5 - but there is nothing but pain and bitterness and emptiness to be gained.

Take heart my friends. Hope is found in Christ (Psalm 39:7). Hope to be freed from this world's chains and eternity's punishment. Hope to live without being consumed by how others value me, so that I can rest in how the God who created me values me. This is something to be excited about. I think this is what we, who call ourselves the church, are to be about.