Be Festooned

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

How amazingly quick and efficient is the God we worship and serve! When He speaks to me I hear no audible voice and He usually speaks His mind in an instant. Yet, to relate what He says takes me many words and much time. It’s as if He gave me an mp3 file which took only a moment to download but which took hours to play. He spoke to me that way this morning and I am still considering the weight and substance of His thoughts.

Because you are my friends and family in either a literal sense or in the Lord, I want to share with you what He said to me.

To give a short history of how He “spoke” this morning, it all began just moments before I left for work. I decided to check my various email accounts before stepping out the door. There among what consisted mostly of spam was a daily email which consists of a “devotion, meditation, reading, study”, or whatever you would call it. They’re always good but they don’t always impact me in the same way. That, of course, depends on how they fit into how God chooses to communicate with me at that moment. If you are in the habit of using such a daily reading, you know what I mean. And the same thing could apply to a sermon, a passage of Scripture, or the words of a friend speaking under the prompting of the Lord. Here’s the email I received:

It begins with this scripture from Proverbs:

“Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her–believe me, you won’t regret it; never let her go–she’ll make your life glorious. She’ll garland your life with grace, she’ll festoon your days with beauty.” (Proverbs 4:7-9 The Message)

[The reading continues:]

If you really want to get the wisdom of God, you’ll have to do more than casually read the Scriptures a few minutes a day. You’ll have to feed on them night and day. You’ll have to get rid of the rubbish you’ve been feeding into your consciousness by reprogramming your mind with the Word of God.

“Oh,” you may say, “that’s unreasonable!”

Yes it is. But consider this: A music major in college practices for hours every day. Olympic skaters spend six to eight hours a day training for their routines. They do it because they’re unreasonably committed to their goals. The same is true for you. If you’re going to achieve the kind of spiritual excellence you’re hungry for, you’re going to have to be unreasonably committed to the Word of God.

That may well mean that you’ll have to carry a CD or Mp3 player around with you everywhere you go. It may mean that you’ll have your razor in one hand and your player in the other or a player in one hand and a fork in the other. Do whatever it takes to totally saturate yourself with the Word of God. I would speak to you no differently if I were your commanding officer about to send you into combat against the best-trained elite forces of a savage enemy.

You are God’s frontline assault force. You have an enemy who is doing his dead level best to destroy you. In this crucial, all-out, no-holds-barred offensive, Satan will dispatch hell’s choicest personnel to bring you down. If you’re going to make it through to victory, you’re going to have to put yourself in training.

Be unreasonably committed. Get wisdom.

[And the study ends with the suggested Scripture Study: Proverbs 1:7-33]

I’ve just got to remark about the word festoon, used in the scripture reference. You may or may not be familiar with this word. It’s certainly not a part of my regular vocabulary, though I had a general sense of what it meant. Naturally, for me, word lover that I am, I had to go to the dictionary to look it up.

Now, please follow me on this. It may look to you as if we’ve gotten off a spiritual journey and onto word study, but I’m leading to a point.

Sometimes you don’t learn a great deal from looking up the verb as it is used. In their usual redundant way, most dictionaries define the verb something like this: “to decorate with or as if with festoons; hang festoons on; to form or make into festoons.” Clear as mud, right?

However, if you look up the noun it reads something like: “a string or garland, as of leaves or flowers, suspended in a loop or curve between two points.” Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen festoons made of leaves or flowers (But, then, I’ve led a sheltered life). However, I have seen strips of colored paper of various kinds–usually at parties and other celebrations. I’m sure you have, also.

Anyway, the dictionary I used advised me to “see more” by looking at the word feast. I probably should have realized it before, but there is a relationship between the words festoon, feast, and festival. So, word lover that I still am, I looked up the word feast. Although feast is certainly a more familiar word to all of us (I know what it means and I like to participate in one as often as possible), two definitions caught my eye: “something that gives unusual or abundant pleasure, and a periodic religious observance commemorating an event or honoring a deity, person, or thing.”

Not content to stop with these words, I must include the definition for festival: “a time of celebration marked by special observances.” Then, as if all that from festoon wasn’t enough (and it isn’t for me), there’s that phrase “She [referring to Wisdom] will garland your life with grace”. I love it! Not only is there the beauty and alliteration of the phrase but, much more importantly, the significance of the word picture it brings.

Although we use the word garland mostly in reference to a length of shiny stuff or greenery we place on a banister or around the Christmas tree, the definition is either: “a wreath, a grommet or ring of rope used aboard ship in hoisting or to prevent chafing.”

While we’re at it, let’s include that perhaps unfamiliar word grommet: “a flexible loop that serves as a fastening, support, or reinforcement.”

Now, if you’re still with me, you may be wondering, “SO? What does all this “word” study have to do with studying the “WORD”? Well, let me attempt to put it altogether.

In the Bible verses quoted above, we are instructed to seek wisdom, understanding and good judgment; we are told that seeking these is the most important thing we can do; that it is above all and before all. And why does God tell us to do this?

First of all, as we find in the Scripture study (Proverbs 1:7-33) indicated in the daily reading, we are advised to, “Start with God–the first step in learning is bowing down to God; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.” (The Message 1:7)

Now, that’s a good enough reason all by itself. And, as God’s representatives in the world, we need it, too. As the reading says, “You are God’s frontline assault force. You have an enemy who is doing his dead level best to destroy you.”

If we sit ignorant and stay fat, dumb and happy, it is not because we have not been told there is a way for us to be armed and dangerous for the Lord in this world. God makes no secret of His desire to educate us in His ways.

In “The Message” version, Proverbs 1 continues:

“Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech. In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out: “Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? About face! I can revise your life.” (v. 20-22)

Hey, it got MY attention! I’m just grateful that God didn’t have to speak to me in that tone this morning. Then, we’re told:

“Look, I’m ready to pour out my spirit on you; I’m ready to tell you all I know. As it is, I’ve called, but you’ve turned a deaf ear; I’ve reached out to you, but you’ve ignored me.” (v 23-24)

The chapter ends with the assuring words, “First pay attention to me, and then, relax. Now you can take it easy–you’re in good hands.” (v. 33)

Even the heading for this chapter in “The Message” version is: A Manual For Living and the first main heading is Start With God.

What I see in these scriptures, through the word search I was led to make, and through the prompting of the Holy Spirit is this: If I will start with God, pay attention to Him first and exclusively, and determinedly seek His wisdom, He will make my life glorious, meaning “marked by great beauty or splendor”. He will garland my life with grace, meaning God’s grace will surround me as protection from the chafing effects of the world. He will festoon my life by pouring out His Spirit upon me and by telling me all He knows.

Seeing the meaning of the words included in these verses, as well as those related to them, I like to think that, when I give priority to God; when I seek Him first; when I make seeking His wisdom my first priority, He declares a “festival–a time of celebration marked by special observances.”

I see Him arming me for battle with wisdom that is the most practical on Earth. I see Him ready and willing to entrust me with the only real knowledge worth having. I long for Him to surround my life with His garland of grace. I can hear Him say, “Relax, Bill. You’re in good hands…with Me.”

All these benefits come at a price. That price is my dedication to the reading of God’s Word. And not only must I read it; I must meditate on it. I must ask my Heavenly Father for clarification. I must have the eye-opening, heart-opening assistance of the Holy Spirit. I must give priority to communion with the Lord and be persistent.

I cannot do any of these things in my own strength. My task is to “start with God” to express my desire to know Him–REALLY know Him. Then I must “show up” faithfully and wait upon Him. He says to me, “Seek Me. Make Me your priority. Ask, seek, knock. And pay attention”.

Love,
Brother Bill

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