Bitter Battles

The eye that mocks a father,that scorns obedience to a mother,will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,will be eaten by the vultures.

Proverbs 30:17 (NIV)

Oh, my goodness. If I was not committed to taking each proverb in order, I would surely skip this one. It does not seem like a four-days-before-Christmas theme. But maybe it is. God’s Word always has something to say to us. It could be that there is someone reading today who needs to hear this. Please bear with me. It’s important and urgent.

First of all, this is speaking to you if you have a broken relationship full of bitterness and anger toward your parents. Please know this is going to eat you up to your dying day. I think this is the very reason that God inserted this graphic, awful word picture of ravens and vultures. Vultures only eat the dead and dying. Truly, the enemy of your soul feeds on and delights in seeing a child of God who is bitter. Bitterness is a rottenness and emotional death in you. It robs your joy and steals your peace.

Let me say, no matter what the issue is, even if it’s deep and serious, may this be the Christmas that Satan gets no more mileage by tormenting you.

Now the question is, are you willing to forgive? If so, express that to the Lord right now. He is able to make you able. It would be a threefold gift: to your parents, to yourself, and to God the Father, who loves you. This may seem like the most expensive gift you’ve ever given. Actually, it is. Forgiveness is not only expensive, it’s priceless.

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Perhaps you are entirely innocent of bitterness within your family. It’s those ornery folk on the outside who are the problem. At one time both William Anderson Hatfield and Randolph McCoy were simple, hospitable, home-loving mountain men. They were close friends. But once they started to feud, they never forgave and never forgot. Now their name, the Hatfields and the McCoys, are synonymous with the danger of escalating, unresolved anger. One Christmas long ago, God sent his Son to straighten us out. If you are bitter against anybody, anywhere, for any reason, will you open your heart and let him unload your guns?

One Year Bible Reading

Zechariah 1:1-21; Revelation 12:1-17; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 30:17