Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.
Proverbs 28:19 (NIV)
Worthless Pursuits
Seventy-seven people died in police pursuits over a 10-year period in Canada, according to a study by an independent public watchdog. The study, released through federal access-to-information law, analyzed 871 pursuits involving the RCMP and other police forces nationwide. It found that officers were injured in seven percent of the pursuits the researchers examined. Drivers and passengers in fleeing vehicles were injured in 23 per cent of the pursuits, while innocent parties were injured in 10 per cent of cases.
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We live in a day of fantasy. One movie website wrote recently, “An unprecedented fantasy boom has hit the film industry in recent times, which explains why such genres have been topping the charts of the grossing movies in the last three consecutive years. The once ubiquitous romance genre has been replaced at the top by fantasy and science fiction.” While there weren’t movies back in King Solomon’s day, people still loved to dwell in a fantasy world, doing their best not to have to deal with reality which was, and still is, sometimes overwhelming. King Solomon wrote this in Proverbs 28:19: “Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.” This Biblical principle remains unchanged. So many people in our day exist in a fantasy world, doing their best to avoid the issues that can so easily depress and overwhelm us. To Solomon’s point, that can too often lead to all sorts of personal challenges, including poverty. How much better to trust in the Lord Jesus, who holds our lives and our future in His unchanging hands, and get to work serving Him and others.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley