Tag Archives: live right

Am I such better company for the glorious, sinless One?

First Jesus calls four hard-working fellows who gainfully pursued an honorable occupation. But then He up and calls one of those tax collector “things”!

Suppose you had been one of the fishermen. Would you have been aghast and insulted that Jesus would have called Matthew just as readily as He called you? I wonder how many of us would have resisted the preposterous notion that we follow Jesus in the company of a publican.

Aren’t we so strange, vain, and arrogant? I mean, just how good do we think we are, anyway?! Think about it… Continue reading →

It's as simple as blowing your nose hard is!

I need to put pressure on someone who is already angry and bitter.

How can I do it without stirring up a fresh dose of those? What must I do to exert this pressure in a way that doesn’t bring on a heavier cascade of contention?

Maybe it isn’t possible.

These thoughts come as a consequence of my Bible reading this morning. I “learned” a new word: miyts (pronounced meets). This noun means “pressure” and appears only three times in the Old Testament, all of them in Proverbs 30:33.

Here is the verse in three versions:

Surely he who stirs milk will get out butter, and he who blows his nose hard will get out blood; and he who provokes wrath will cause contention.

Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

Ciertamente el que bate la leche sacará mantequilla, Y el que recio se suena las narices sacará sangre; Y el que provoca la ira causará contienda.

The first version is my translation of the third (which is Reina-Valera 1960).

Put pressure on someone who is already angry and you’ll surely get contention and strife. Continue reading →