Author: David Short

Sirach 28:2-3

Forgive a wrong done you by your neighbor;
Then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
Can a man preserve wrath against his neighbor
And still seek healing from the Lord?

Personal Challenge

God has an economy of life that is so much different than the way that the world works. First, He asks us to love Him, then He asks that we love our neighbor. We may ask who our neighbor is and the answer always comes back that everyone is our neighbor, including our enemies. Finally, He asks us to forgive our neighbor, and our enemies, for anything that they have done to us. This is the ultimate act of love for another. This is also where we will see Gods’ acts of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness playing out in our lives. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Sirach 27:4-7

When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains;
So a man’s filth remains in the way he reasons.
As a furnace tests a potter’s vessels,
So the test of a man is in the way he reasons.
As fruit reveals how a tree is cultivated,
So a man’s reasoning process reveals his heart.
Do not praise a man before he reveals the way he reasons,
For this is the way a man is tested.

Personal Challenge

We see the true nature of things around us by testing them. To get the rocks that we do not want in a batch of soil, we run it through a sieve and discard them. When we are done throwing a pot (shaping it while the day is moist, we put it in a kiln to harden it and burn out any impurities. We plant trees and flowers and wait until they produce fruit before we choose to keep them. The same applies to people. We must be tested to see who we really are and what is really important to us. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Sirach 25:1

There are three things beautiful to see,
And they are beautiful before the Lord and men:
The harmony of brothers, friendship between neighbors,
And a wife and husband well-adjusted together.

Encouraging Words

It is good to know that God sees some things in the lives of humans as good. We know that His desire for us is unity and not division. Harmony amongst brothers and friendship between our neighbors certainly are beautiful things to have, especially today. We also know that the marriage relationship is very precious in His eyes. For those of us who are married, we definitely know how awesome it is to have a well-adjusted relationship. Glory be to God!

Sirach 22:27

Who will set a guard over my mouth,
And a prudent seal over my lips,
That I may not fall because of them,
And that my tongue may not destroy me?

Personal Challenge

Sometimes it is just plain necessary to put a piece of duct tape across our mouths to force ourselves to keep quiet. It takes a lot of work to build the habit of listening before we speak and then having the discernment to stop at the listening and not speak at all. But I am an American! I have a right to speak my opinion! However, if I am a practicing Christian, I should have forfeited that citizenship of being an American and taken on the citizenship of heaven. That is the Kingdom that I should give my allegiance to. It is that Kingdom that instructs us to put a guard over our mouth and a seal over our lips. Glory be to God!

Sirach 21:1-3

My son, have you sinned?
No longer add to them, but pray about your former sins.
Flee from sin as you would from the presence of a snake,
For if you approach it, it will bite you;
Its teeth are like lion’s teeth, destroying the souls of men.
All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword,
For there is no healing from its wound.

Personal Challenge

If I am on a diet and I know that having a donut will violate that diet, then why do I walk into a donut shop? We are fallen. We live in a fallen world. We sin! Even though Jesus has made it possible for us to sin no more, we must strive extremely hard to avoid sinning. The advice in this passage is provided to help us on our journey to living a life without sin. If we have sin, which all of us have, then pray for forgiveness and do what we can to not sin more. In many cases that means leaving the donut shop and not looking back. We need to flee those situations and opportunities that we know can, and usually will, lead us into sin. These are choices that we must make, and continue to make until the day we die. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Sirach 18:18-20

Before you speak, learn,
And before you get sick, take care of your health.
Before you make a judgment, examine yourself closely,
And in the hour of visitation you will find atonement.
Before you become sick, humble yourself;
And at the time of sinning, prove your conversion.

Encouraging Words

Sirach is considered to be one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament. Like the Psalms, the Proverbs, and other wisdom books, it is full of guidance on how to live our lives in a godly way. This set of verses offers some sage advice. We are encouraged to learn before we speak, to take care of our health before we get sick, examine ourselves closely before we make a judgment, to humble ourselves before we become sick, and to prove our conversion, our faith when sinning is upon us. Wise words, especially in today’s world. Glory be to God!

Sirach 18:4-6

Who will measure His majestic power with a number,
And who will add to this measure
While describing His mercies?
There is no one who can add or subtract,
And there is no who can search out the wonders of the Lord.
When a man completes his search, then he starts over;
And when he stops, he will still be perplexed.

Personal Challenge

We live in the information age. Virtually every piece of information that we would like to ingest is at our fingertips. It is so easy to get caught up in this pursuit of information, the pursuit of knowledge, and end up missing the very object that we are studying. We do this so often with God. We read every book we can lay our hands on, read every blog, and listen to recordings and podcasts in this pursuit of knowledge about God… and yet we miss God. God is not in the information. The information is about God. We need to pursue Him, look for Him in His creation, in our neighbor, and in His body of believers. We can still study about Him, but this must be tempered with living in Him. When we do this we will see God, we will know Him better and deeper. And in this, we will realize that the more we know Him (not about Him, we see Gow title we really do know. Glory be to God!

Sirach 17:24-25

How great the mercy of the Lord is,
And His atonement for those who turn to Him.
For all things are not possible for man,
Because a son of man is not immortal.

Encouraging Words

Our Lord’s mercy is greater than anything that we can comprehend or even conceive. He pours out His atonement for our sins when we turn to Him. No person can do this for themselves or another. Only God does this through His Son who died for us. Glory be to God!